System and method for managing and monitoring supply costs

Abstract

A system and method are provided for managing and estimating supply costs, by drilling down through detailed component lists of tree structured component specifications and rolling up pricing estimates based on predetermined, projected and available criteria and automatically accounting for costs in an organized manner. The costs may be analyzed from a historical perspective, accounting for future costs based on historical cost data within a given past or future date range. The costs may also be analyzed based on average costs of available costed items. The system and method can alternatively enable a buyer to receive quotes from suppliers to be used in estimating supply costs. Such a system may further include the ability to adapt to various supply scenarios, such as partnership splits, where multiple suppliers manufacture and supply common components to buyers at same or different prices.

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