Analysis of the Requirements of an Early Life-cycle Cost Estimation Tool: An Industrial Survey

Abstract Cost estimation is a critical issue for many companies concerning both offers generation and company strategic evaluations. In this paper, a framework for early cost estimation has been proposed to some firms for an assessment of its main features. The aim of the industrial survey is to promote a discussion on the needs and the expectations regarding cost estimation in order to obtain feedbacks to be addresses in the implementation of a software tool. Gather data has led to a ranking of the main characteristics the tool should have.

[1]  Daniel Sabin,et al.  Product Configuration Frameworks - A Survey , 1998, IEEE Intell. Syst..

[2]  Michele Germani,et al.  Design knowledge formalization to shorten the time to generate offers for Engineer To Order products , 2017 .

[3]  Geoffrey Boothroyd,et al.  Product design for manufacture and assembly , 1994, Comput. Aided Des..

[4]  Alain Bernard,et al.  The evolution, challenges, and future of knowledge representation in product design systems , 2013, Comput. Aided Des..

[5]  U. Lindemann,et al.  Cost-Efficient Design , 2007 .

[6]  Leo S. Wierda.  Linking Design, Process Planning and Cost Information by Feature-based Modelling , 1991 .

[7]  Gianfranco La Rocca,et al.  Knowledge based engineering: Between AI and CAD. Review of a language based technology to support engineering design , 2012, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[8]  Debasish Dutta,et al.  Feature Based Shape Similarity Measurement for Retrieval of Mechanical Parts , 2001, J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng..

[9]  Kevin Otto,et al.  LINKING 10 YEARS OF MODULAR DESIGN RESEARCH: ALTERNATIVE METHODS AND TOOL CHAIN SEQUENCES TO SUPPORT PRODUCT PLATFORM DESIGN , 2013, DAC 2013.

[10]  Steve Culley,et al.  Knowledge management in engineering design: personalization and codification , 2004 .

[11]  J. M. Castelain,et al.  Cost Estimation During Design Step: Parametric Method versus Case Based Reasoning Method , 1999 .

[12]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  A heuristic method for identifying modules for product architectures , 2000 .