1. A method in a computer system for generating predicted product values of a product manufactured by a machine having a plurality of actuators and a plurality of mechanical elements, the method comprising the steps of: presenting a plurality of machine input fields requesting a plurality of parameters associated with the plurality of actuators and the plurality of mechanical elements; presenting a plurality of product input fields requesting a plurality of desired product properties of the product; receiving one or more parameters from the plurality of machine input fields; receiving one or more desired product properties from the plurality of product input fields; calculating output response data by an emulation model that emulates a mechanical operation of the machine using one or more parameters and the one or more desired product properties; providing at least a portion of the output response data to a product model wherein the product model is a mathematical model configured to calculate one or more predicted product values based at least in part on the output response data provided to the product model; and, presenting the one or more predicted product values.