A framework for estimating manufacturing cost from geometric design data

In the early stages of a product development process, the estimated manufacturing cost is the primary information needed to determine the profitability of a product. The more reliable is the cost estimating process, the more likely the right decision will be made. In this research, a framework to estimate the lowest product manufacturing cost from its AND/OR tree representation of alternate processes is developed. Although, the manufacturing cost considered is focused on processing and material handling costs, the framework also makes provision for the inclusion of other sources of costs such as fixture and set-up costs. To show the full scope of the system, the aggregate estimates of these other sources of costs have also been modelled and included in the framework. Unlike some earlier research which analyses a single arbitrary process sequence, the cost estimation system developed chooses the best process sequence from among all feasible alternative sequences. The process sequence selection is based on the minimization of the total manufacturing cost from among all the feasible process sequences. Because it is assumed that the process costs are sequence-dependent, a mathematical model combined with a heuristic solution are employed to determine the lowest manufacturing cost estimate and consequently, the minimum cost process sequence. By providing the complete overview of the framework, future development and enhancement is easier and more transparent to undertake.