Methods and apparatus for management and negotiation of prices of goods purchased from a vendor

摘要

Systems and techniques for management and negotiation of prices of goods purchased from a vendor. Pricing information is collected by a purchaser. This information reflects factors influencing pricing of components used by a vendor and intended for use in products sold to the purchaser. The pricing information is processed to develop models that can be used to compute expected prices for components. The models and other available information are then used to compute target prices for components. When a price quotation for a product is received from a vendor, the price quotation is analyzed, and the quoted price is compared against an overall target price generated by identifying the components making up the product and adding the target prices for components and elements making up the product. If the quoted price exceeds the target price, the price quotation is rejected. Negotiations may then be undertaken to resolve the pricing differences.