System and method for business goal-optimization when customer demand cannot be satisfied

• US 20030036933A1
• Filed: 06/27/2001
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Shetty, Ravindra K., Thyagarajan, Venkatesan
• Application Number:
  US09/893,091
• Publication Number:
  US 20030036933A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided through which the quantity of one or more items in a customer order are reduced in reference to a function of inverse probability of vendor profit and in reference to a reasonable margin of a target time predetermined by the customer, when the customer order cannot be produced within the margin. The reduced item quantities update the corresponding items in the customer order, and the items in the customer order are produced accordingly, such that the objective of the business goal is met or not sacrificed.

Claims

1. A computerized method for production management comprising:

determining a reduced quantity of a requested product quantity in a customer order in reference to the inverse of the probability of profit of the product; and

communicating the reduced quantity to a production management process.

2. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises:

iteratively determining a graceful reduction of the requested product quantity from a time shortfall, from the inverse profit probability, and from a reduced number of plurality of products, until the customer accepts the reduced quantity or until the time shortfall is non-existent.

3. The computerized method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining that the requested product quantity can not be satisfied within a customer target time period.

4. A computerized method for production management comprising:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data and from customer order data; and

(b) determining a quantity of each of the plurality of products corresponding to a vendor maximum profit of the requests for a plurality of products, from a degradation of the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products.

5. The computerized method of claim 4, the method further comprising:

(c) communicating the quantity of each of the plurality of products corresponding to a maximum vendor profit of the requests for a plurality of products.

6. The computerized method of claim 4, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) obtaining process and inventory operation data, the data further comprising an inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(2) obtaining customer order data;

the data further comprising an identification of each of the plurality of products, a requested quantity of each of the plurality of products, and an associated target time of each of the plurality of requested products;

(a)(3) determining an effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced from the requested quantity of each of the plurality of products and from the inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(4) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced; and

(a)(5) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

7. The computerized method of claim 6, wherein the obtaining (a)(1) action is performed after the obtaining (a)(2) action.

8. The computerized method of claim 6, wherein the determining (a)(5) further comprises:

(a)(5)(i) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin.

9. The computerized method of claim 6, wherein the determining (a)(5) further comprises:

(a)(5)(i) determining a batch objective value for producing and delivering each of the plurality of products, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products;

(a)(5)(ii) determining the total production time of the plurality of products from the batch objective value of each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(5)(iii) comparing the target time to the total production time of the plurality of products.

10. The computerized method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined margin further comprises a predetermined absolute quantity margin.

11. The computerized method of claim 4, wherein determining (b) for each product in the order, further comprises:

(b)(1) determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

(b)(2) communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls;

(b)(3) receiving from the customer information representing reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products;

(b)(4) determining a profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the customer order, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(b)(5) determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(b)(6) updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

(b)(7) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement, and from the unit time of manufacture; and

(b)(8) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

12. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein determining (b)(4), further comprises:

(b)(4)(i) dividing the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the customer order into the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order, yielding a portion of total profit attributable to the one product; and

(b)(4)(ii) determining a profit probability from the portion of total profit attributable to the one product subtracted from (b)(4)(i)

13. A computerized method for production management comprising:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data

(b) determining an inverse profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the request, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(c) determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the inverse profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(d) updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

(e) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement; and

(f) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

14. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

15. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the determining (a)(1) further comprises:

(a)(1)(i) determining a batch objective value for producing and delivering each of the plurality of products, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products;

(a)(1)(ii) determining the total production time of the plurality of products from the batch objective value of each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(1)(iii) comparing the target time to the total production time of the plurality of products.

16. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the determining (a)(1) further comprises:

(a)(1)(i) obtaining process and inventory operation data, the data further comprising an inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(1)(ii) obtaining customer order data;

the data further comprising an identification of each of the plurality of products, a requested quantity of each of the plurality of products, and an associated target time of each of the plurality of requested products;

(a)(1 )(iii) determining an effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced from the requested quantity of each of the plurality of products and from the inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(1 )(iv) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced.

17. The computerized method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined margin further comprises an absolute quantity margin.

18. The computerized method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

(g) determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

(h) communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls; and

(i) receiving from the customer information representing a reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products.

19. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to perform a method for production management comprising:

determining a reduced quantity of a requested product quantity in a customer order in reference to the inverse of the probability of profit of the product; and

communicating the reduced quantity to a production management process.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the determining further comprises:

iteratively determining a graceful reduction of the requested product quantity from a time shortfall, from the inverse profit probability, and from a reduced number of plurality of products, until the customer accepts the reduced quantity or until the time shortfall is non-existent.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, the method further comprising:

determining that the requested product quantity can not be satisfied within a customer target time period.

22. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to perform a method for production management comprising:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data and from customer order data; and

(b) determining a quantity of each of the plurality of products corresponding to a vendor maximum profit of the requests for a plurality of products, from a degradation of the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, the method further comprising:

(c) communicating the quantity of each of the plurality of products corresponding to a maximum vendor profit of the requests for a plurality of products.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) obtaining process and inventory operation data, the data further comprising an inventor quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(2) obtaining customer order data;

the data further comprising an identification of each of the plurality of products, a requested quantity of each of the plurality of products, and an associated target time of each of the plurality of requested products;

(a)(3) determining an effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced from the requested quantity of each of the plurality of products and from the inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(4) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced; and

(a)(5) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the obtaining (a)(1) action is performed after the obtaining (a)(2) action.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the determining (a)(5) further comprises:

(a)(5)(i) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the determining (a)(5) further comprises:

(a)(5)(i) determining a batch objective value for producing and delivering each of the plurality of products, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products;

(a)(5)(ii) determining the total production time of the plurality of products from the batch objective value of each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(5)(iii) comparing the target time to the total actual production time of the plurality of products.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the predetermined margin further comprises a predetermined absolute quantity margin.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein determining (b) for each product in the order, further comprises:

(b)(1) determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

(b)(2) communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls;

(b)(3) receiving from the customer information representing reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products;

(b)(4) determining a profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the customer order, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(b)(5) determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(b)(6) updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

(b)(7) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement; and

(b)(8) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein determining (b)(4), further comprises:

(b)(4)(i) dividing the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the customer order into the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order, yielding a portion of total profit attributable to that one product; and

(b)(4)(ii) determining a profit probability from the portion of total profit attributable to the one product subtracted from (b)(4)(i)

31. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to perform a method for production management comprising:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data

(b) determining a profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the request, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(c) determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(d) updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

(e) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement; and

(f) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the determining (a)(1) further comprises:

(a)(1)(i) determining a batch objective value for producing and delivering each of the plurality of products, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products;

(a)(1)(ii) determining the total production time of the plurality of products from the batch objective value of each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(1 )(iii) comparing the target time to the total production time of the plurality of products.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the determining (a)(1) further comprises:

(a)(1)(i) obtaining process and inventory operation data, the data further comprising an inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products;

(a)(1)(ii) obtaining customer order data;

the data further comprising an identification of each of the plurality of products, a requested quantity of each of the plurality of products, and an associated target time of each of the plurality of requested products;

(a)(1 )(iii) determining an effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced from the requested quantity of each of the plurality of products and from the inventory quantity for each of the plurality of products; and

(a)(1)(iv) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the effective quantity for each of the plurality of products to be produced.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the predetermined margin further comprises an absolute quantity margin.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises:

(g) determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

(h) communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls; and

(i) receiving from the customer information representing a reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products.

37. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data;

(b) determining an inverse profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the request, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(c) determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the inverse profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(d) updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

(e) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement, and from the unit time of manufacture; and

(f) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

38. The computer data signal of claim 37, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

39. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon an data structure representing a reduced quantity of a requested product quantity produced by a method comprising:

determining that the quantity of the requested product can not be satisfied by a vendor within a customer target time period; and

iteratively determining a graceful reduction of the requested product quantity from a time shortfall, from the inverse profit probability, and from a reduced number of plurality of products, until the customer accepts the reduced quantity or until the time shortfall is non-existent.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, produced by the method further comprising:

communicating the reduced quantity to a vendor production process.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the determining further comprises:

determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of the vendor beyond a predetermined margin.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the determining further comprises:

determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls;

receiving from the customer information representing reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products;

determining a profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the customer order, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

determining a graceful decrement from the time shortfall, from the profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

updating the objective value from the graceful decrement;

determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the graceful decrement, and from the unit time of manufacture; and

determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

43. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon an data structure representing a reduced quantity of a requested product quantity produced by a method comprising:

(a) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor, wherein the request for a plurality of products includes a quantity associated with each of the plurality of products from process and inventory operation data

(b) determining a profit probability from the profit of a production of one of the plurality of products in the request, and from the profit of all of the plurality of products in the customer order;

(c) determining a reduced quantity from the time shortfall, from the profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

(d) updating the objective value from the reduced quantity;

(e) determining the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products, from the reduced quantity, and from the unit time of manufacture; and

(f) determining an actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, from the actual quantity to be produced for each of the plurality of products.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the determining (a) further comprises:

(a)(1) determining that at least one request for a plurality of products exceeds a production capacity of a vendor beyond a predetermined margin, from the effective quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, from the requested quantity of the at least one of the plurality of products, and from the target time of the at least one of the plurality of products.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the method further comprises:

(g) determining a time shortfall in the production of each of the plurality of products from actual time to produce all of the plurality of products to be produced, and from the target time;

(h) communicating to the customer each of the time shortfalls; and

(i) receiving from the customer information representing reduction in the quantity associated with at least one of the plurality of products.

46. A system for transacting in electronic commerce comprising:

a processor; and

software means operative on the processor for degrading the quantity of an order of a plurality of products using an inverse probability of profit function in reference to profits from each of the products in the order.

47. A computerized apparatus for production management comprising:

a demand analyzer, that determines if a vendor can satisfy a quantity of customer demand for a product, from a database of process and inventory operation data and from a database of customer order data; and

a graceful quantity degrader, operably coupled to the demand analyzer, that yields a degraded quantity from the quantity of customer demand using an inverse probability of profit function.

48. The computerized apparatus of claim 47, wherein the graceful quantity degrader yields the degraded quantity for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity thereof, from a time shortfall, the inverse probability of profit, and from a decremented number of plurality of products of the customer order.

49. A computerized apparatus for production management comprising:

an excess quantity determiner, that determines that one or more customer requests for a plurality of products, exceed a production capacity of the vendor within a prescribed time period; and

a reduced quantity determiner, operably coupled to the excess quantity determiner, that yields a reduced quantity, from an inverse probability of profit of the reduced quantity.

50. The computerized apparatus of claim 49, wherein the excess quantity determiner further comprises:

a determiner of batch objective values, from an effective quantity of at least one product identified in the request, and from the corresponding production speed of each of a plurality of product batches in the request;

a determiner of actual total production time of the at least one products in the request, from the sum of the batch objective values; and

a determiner of a production time shortfall, from the actual total production time, and a target production time, wherein the production shortfall indicates an excess quantity.

51. The computerized apparatus of claim 49, wherein the reduced quantity determiner further comprises:

an inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the inverse profit probability is determined from a projected profit of a product in a customer order, and from the profit of the entire customer order;

a gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, operably coupled to the inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the gracefully-decremented quantity is determined for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity, and determined from a time shortfall, the inverse profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

an objective-value determiner, operably coupled to the gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, wherein the objective-value is determined for each product in the customer order from the gracefully-decremented quantity, and from the previous objective value;

an actual-quantity determiner, operably coupled to the objective-value determiner, wherein the actual-quantity is determined from the objective-value, a production speed of the product, and from the inventory quantity of the product; and

a total-production-time determiner, operably coupled to the actual-quantity determiner, wherein the total-production-time is determined as the sum of objective value of each product.

52. A computerized apparatus for production management comprising:

an excess quantity determiner, that determines that one or more customer requests for a plurality of products exceed a production capacity of the vendor within a prescribed time period;

a reduced quantity determiner, operably coupled to the excess quantity determiner, that yields a reduced quantity, from an inverse probability of profit of the reduced quantity, wherein the reduced quantity determiner further comprises;

a gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, yielding a reduced quantity, operably coupled to the inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the gracefully-decremented quantity is determined for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity, and determined from a time shortfall, the inverse probability of profit, and from a decremented number of plurality of products.

53. The computerized apparatus of claim 52, wherein the inverse profit probability is determined from a projected profit of a product in the customer request, and from the profit of the entire customer request.

54. A computer-readable medium comprising:

a demand analyzer, that determines if a vendor can satisfy a quantity of customer demand for a product, from a database of process and inventory operation data and from a database of customer order data; and

a graceful quantity degrader, operably coupled to the demand analyzer, that yields a degraded quantity from the quantity of customer demand using an inverse probability of profit function

55. The computer-readable medium of claim 54, wherein the graceful quantity degrader yields the degraded quantity for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity thereof, from a time shortfall, the inverse probability of profit, and from a decremented number of plurality of products of the customer order.

56. A computer-readable medium comprising:

an excess quantity determiner, that determines that one or more customer requests for a plurality of products, exceed a production capacity of the vendor within a prescribed time period; and

a reduced quantity determiner, operably coupled to the excess quantity determiner, that yields a reduced quantity, from an inverse probability of profit of the reduced quantity.

57. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the excess quantity determiner further comprises:

a determiner of batch objective values, from an effective quantity of at least one product identified in the request, and from the corresponding production speed of each of a plurality of product batches in the request;

a determiner of actual total production time of the at least one products in the request, from the sum of the batch objective values; and

a determiner of a production time shortfall, from the actual total production time, and a target production time, wherein the production shortfall indicates an excess quantity.

58. The computer-readable medium of claim 56, wherein the reduced quantity determiner further comprises:

an inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the inverse profit probability is determined from a projected profit of a product in a customer order, and from the profit of the entire customer order;

a gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, operably coupled to the inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the gracefully-decremented quantity is determined for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity, and determined from a time shortfall, the inverse profit probability, and from a decremented number of plurality of products;

an objective-value determiner, operably coupled to the gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, wherein the objective-value is determined for each product in the customer order from the gracefully-decremented quantity, and from the previous objective value;

an actual-quantity determiner, operably coupled to the objective-value determiner, wherein the actual-quantity is determined from the objective-value, a production speed of the product, and from the inventory quantity of the product; and

a total-production-time determiner, operably coupled to the actual-quantity determiner, wherein the total-production-time is determined as the sum of objective value of each product.

59. A computer-readable medium comprising:

an excess quantity determiner, that determines that one or more customer requests for a plurality of products exceed a production capacity of the vendor within a prescribed time period;

a reduced quantity determiner, operably coupled to the excess quantity determiner, that yields a reduced quantity, from an inverse probability of profit of the reduced quantity, wherein the reduced quantity determiner further comprises;

a gracefully-decremented quantity determiner, yielding a reduced quantity, operably coupled to the inverse profit probability determiner, wherein the gracefully-decremented quantity is determined for each of the products that the customer indicated a reduced quantity, and determined from a time shortfall, the inverse probability of profit, and from a decremented number of plurality of products.

60. The computer-readable medium of claim 59, wherein the inverse profit probability is determined from a projected profit of a product in the customer request, and from the profit of the entire customer request.