]Analysis: 2. level: COCO-STEP
COCO-STEP IX
The STEP mIn_maX, or STEP IX module, which is one of COCO's multi-step analyses, is primarily a public procurement tool.
The aim of this module is to dissolve the dilemma of apparent shortage of the price/performance relation in case of an OAM, which is seemingly in a balanced state, as a result of similarity analysis. Viz.: it calculates the minimum and maximum balanced prices.
The calculation is very simple, from a methodical point of view: Instead of actual price, take an irrationally high (e.g. *10) and an irrationally low price, (e.g. 0) and change the starting/balanced OAM with them one by one per each run. After each run done this way, the irrational price need to be corrected to the appropriate direction (until the error is not equal with zero), by the sum of the absolute errors, that are the consequences of the results.
From the point found this way, any further differences, be them lower or higher in value than that point, will show losses of balance, so one or more objects may be found that show opposing conditions compared to the object with the altered price.
So, the result of the STEP IX runs is a matrix, in its rows are the objects, and its columns contain the proportions of the actual price and the previously found minimal and maximal balanced prices (min/actual and max/actual).
Based on these data, an object can be considered to be the winner of an OAM, if its min/actual value is 1 (so the actual price is at the lowest point of the possible price-interval), and its max/actual value is infinite, so the maximum price is infinite. Theoretically, there may be more than one object like that.
The ranking principle of the objects: if there is more than one object, where the min/actual value is 1 (or equal), then the max/actual values decide, which objects are better than others. So: the min/actual means a weaker ranking, regardless of the max/actual value.
If both of the aforementioned values are infinite, then the object's value cannot be evaluated, and thus it is fundamentally worthless (risky)...
In frame of MY-X FREE, automatic modules are unavailable (minimal number of runs: number of objects * 4, so at least 2 approximations form max and min side, respectively), so each step needs to be executed manually...
