Price Optimization Using Business Rule Penalty Values

The patent transforms business rules from absolute constraints into parameterized constraints with associated penalty values. Each business rule is assigned a monetary penalty value that quantifies the cost of violation, allowing the optimization algorithm to balance rule compliance against revenue and profit maximization. This parameterization enables flexible trade-offs where the system can selectively violate low-penalty rules to achieve higher overall profitability while maintaining compliance with high-penalty critical rules.

The patent incorporates business rule compliance checks and penalty assessments into the price optimization process itself, rather than applying them as post-processing steps. The penalty values for rule violations are integrated into the objective function during optimization, allowing the system to proactively identify and adjust prices that would violate business rules before final recommendations are generated. This preliminary integration ensures both revenue optimization and rule compliance are achieved simultaneously.

The patent merges multiple business rules into a unified optimization framework where all rules are represented as parameterized constraints with penalty values. Instead of handling each business rule separately through multiple processing steps, the system combines them into a single objective function that simultaneously considers revenue, profit, and all applicable business rules. This merging reduces solution complexity by consolidating what would otherwise require sequential rule-checking and adjustment processes into one integrated optimization calculation.