Monte Carlo simulation can be loosely described as any statistical method that uses sequences of random numbers to perform the simulation. Monte Carlo methods have been used for centuries, but only in the past several decades has the technique gained the status of a numerical method capable of addressing the most complex applications. The name ``Monte Carlo'' was coined during the Manhattan Project of World War II, because of the similarity of statistical simulation to games of chance. The analogy of Monte Carlo methods to games of chance is a good one. In our case the ``game'' is a business problem, and the outcome of the game is a solution, or set of solutions, to the problem.