Design for Cost: Past Experience and Recent Development

SUMMARY Business success largely depends on timely delivery of a product of affordable quality to a competitive market. As technical decision makers, designers have concentrated their efforts on improving quality but often are unable to ensure affordability. They have limited access to cost information and therefore have little control over product cost, especially overheads. ‘Design for cost’ gives equal emphasis to affordability and quality. The everyday philosophy is to get design right first time. Many companies are already of the opinion that they have followed the design for cost principle. However, progress has not yet been as impressive as expected. This paper discusses a number of practices in manufacturing as well as construction within various industrial sectors, including chemical, electronic, civil and mechanical. The objective is to investigate underlying methodologies and general procedures. Future research is needed to recognize generic aspects in order that design for cost can be fitted i...