The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 17, 2008
Filed:
Dec. 18, 2002
Gerald W. Baumann, Surprise, AZ (US);
David H. Goldstein, Boulder, CO (US);
Richard A. Leavitt, Longmont, CO (US);
John M. Salvadore, Boulder, CO (US);
David B. Schroeder, Randolph, NJ (US);
Paul A. Smith, Washingtonville, NY (US);
Kirk A. Tatusko, Boulder, CO (US);
Gerald W. Baumann, Surprise, AZ (US);
David H. Goldstein, Boulder, CO (US);
Richard A. Leavitt, Longmont, CO (US);
John M. Salvadore, Boulder, CO (US);
David B. Schroeder, Randolph, NJ (US);
Paul A. Smith, Washingtonville, NY (US);
Kirk A. Tatusko, Boulder, CO (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Under the present invention, componentized costs for providing/producing an item are collected from a plurality of suppliers. The componentized costs include the fixed and variable costs associated with raw materials and production for providing the item according to various specifications and order quantities. When a buyer wishes to obtain the item, a particular order specification and a demand forecast for the item will be provided. Based on the particular specification, the demand forecast and the componentized costs, an optimal order quantity for the item will be calculated. Then, a total (lifetime) cost for providing the item will be calculated for each supplier. The supplier having the lowest total cost for the projected lifetime of the item will be identified to the buyer.