This work provides principles & techniques for the evaluation of construction design, emphasizing the importance of strong analysis skills & exploring estimation. It aims to provide readers with a balanced & cohesive overview of these two areas.

Presents an accessible approach to the cost estimation tools, concepts, and techniques needed to support analytical and cost decisions Written with an easy-to-understand approach, Cost Estimation: Methods and Tools provides comprehensive coverage of the quantitative techniques needed by professional cost estimators and for those wanting to learn about this vibrant career field. Featuring the underlying mathematical and analytical principles of cost estimation, the book focuses on the tools and methods used to predict the research and development, production, and operating and support costs for successful cost estimation in industrial, business, and manufacturing processes. The book begins with a detailed historical perspective and key terms of the cost estimating field in order to develop the necessary background prior to implementing the presented quantitative methods. The book proceeds to fundamental cost estimation methods utilized in the field of cost estimation, including working with inflation indices, regression analysis, learning curves, analogies, cost factors, and wrap rates. With a step-by-step introduction to the practicality of cost estimation and the available resources for obtaining relevant data, Cost Estimation: Methods and Tools also features: Various cost estimating tools, concepts, and techniques needed to support business decisions Multiple questions at the end of each chapter to help readers obtain a deeper understanding of the discussed methods and techniques An overview of the software used in cost estimation, as well as an introduction to the application of risk and uncertainty analysis A Foreword from Dr. Douglas A. Brook, a professor in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School, who spent many years working in the Department of Defense acquisition environment Cost Estimation: Methods and Tools is an excellent reference for academics and practitioners in decision science, operations research, operations management, business, and systems and industrial engineering, as well as a useful guide in support of professional cost estimation training and certification courses for practitioners. The book is also appropriate for graduate-level courses in operations research, operations management, engineering economics, and manufacturing and/or production processes.

This book helps apply managerial accounting techniques to problems in areas including that of cost estimation, cost control, product pricing, and business segment discontinuation. It is a valuable resource for short-term courses and seminars conducted to train professionals and practitioners in engineering and manufacturing cost analysis. Cost Analysis for Engineers and Scientists introduces the fundamentals accounting information systems and manufacturing costs. It also presents product costing and manufacturing cost allocation to individual as well as joint products. The concepts and applications of cost-volume-profit and breakeven analysis for single-product and multiple-products are also discussed. It is intended for engineers, managers, and scientists to apply cost analysis techniques for assessing engineering and financial projects. A solutions manual and PowerPoint slides are available for qualified textbook adoption.

The authors present the latest principles and techniques for the evaluation of engineering design. The text is suitable for undergraduate or graduate courses in cost estimating in engineering, management and technology settings.

Although technology and productivity has changed much of engineering, many topics are still taught in very similarly to how they were taught in the 70s. Using a new approach to engineering economics, Systems Life Cycle Costing: Economic Analysis, Estimation, and Management presents the material that a modern engineer must understand to work as a practicing engineer conducting economic analysis. Organized around a product development process that provides a framework for the material, the book presents techniques such as engineering economics and simulation-based costing (SBC), with a focus on total life cycle understanding and perspective and introduces techniques for detailed analysis of modern complex systems. The author includes rules of thumb for estimation grouped with the methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) for conducting a detailed engineering buildup for costing. He presents the estimating costing of complex systems and software and then explores concepts such as design to cost (DTC), cost as an independent variable (CAIV), the role of commercial off-the-shelf technology, cost of quality, and the role of project management in LCC management. No product or services are immune from cost, performance, schedule, quality, risks, and tradeoffs. Yet engineers spend most of their formal education focused on performance and most of their professional careers worrying about resources and schedule. Too often, the design stage becomes about the technical performance without considering the downstream costs that contribute to the tota1 life cycle costs (LCC) of a system. This text presents the methods, processes, and tools needed for the economic analysis, estimation, and management that bring these costs in line with the goals of pleasing the customer and staying within budget.

Changes in production processes reflect the technological advances permeat ing our products and services. U. S. industry is modernizing and automating. In parallel, direct labor is fading as the primary cost driver while engineering and technology related cost elements loom ever larger. Traditional, labor-based ap proaches to estimating costs are losing their relevance. Old methods require aug mentation with new estimating tools and techniques that capture the emerging environment. This volume represents one of many responses to this challenge by the cost analysis profession. The Institute of Cost Analysis (lCA) is dedicated to improving the effective ness of cost and price analysis and enhancing the professional competence of its members. We encourage and promote exchange of research findings and appli cations between the academic community and cost professionals in industry and government. The 1990 National Meeting in Los Angeles, jointly spo~sored by ICA and the National Estimating Society (NES), provides such a forum. Presen tations will focus on new and improved tools and techniques of cost analysis. This volume is the second in a series. The first was produced in conjunction with the 1989 National Meeting of ICA/NES in Washington, D.C. The articles in this volume, all refereed, were selected from about 100 submitted for presen tation at the Los Angeles meeting.

Parametric cost estimating models are flexible tools which bring engineering, scientific and mathematical rigour to cost and schedule estimating, but great tools alone will not keep programs affordable. Tools must be applied as part of a credible process if estimates and analyses are to be accepted. Complex major projects involving engineering, hardware, software, service and IT, all suffer from two basic problems: the project sponsors often struggle to specify the project effectively, and project managers find themselves wrestling with unpredicted cost or schedule overruns. Everyone wants to be successful with the tools and solutions they use, so this book is a comprehensive collection of methods with proven success. The applications described by Dale Shermon and his co-authors have evolved over 30 years of cost engineering experience during which time they have been matured by the parametric community. Each chapter explores a different application of parametrics, based on real-life case examples, providing you with a detailed guide to the rationale and value of cost engineering in a different industry or program context. Systems Cost Engineering will help cost engineers, project and program directors, and the champions that support them, to understand and apply parametrics to ensure that their programs: * offer a credible analysis of alternative cost options * are never initiated with insufficient funding because of inaccurate estimates of cost or quantification of risks * are never diverted from their objective because of a lack of credible cost management * share and communicate knowledge of realistic and dynamic cost and productivity metrics amongst the program team * are never derailed by surprise cost overruns or schedule delays The information in this book will give projects sponsors and bid managers confidence in the business case that they are developing and enable them to communicate a clear and transparent picture of the risks, opportunities and benefits to stakeholders and project owners.

Covering the life of a construction project from inception to completion, this useful reference explains basic and advanced aspects of engineering economics, cost estimating, cost control, cost forecasting, planning, and scheduling. It serves both as a comprehensive introduction to cost engineering and as a practical, on-the-job guide for any construction project where the object is economy. Construction Cost Engineering Handbook describes the responsibilities of each member of the construction team and defines their relationship to project control ... analyzes project economics before, during, and after a project's finish ... examines various types and methods of estimating ... distinguishes between cost reporting and cost forecasting, with valuable cost and scheduling integration examples ... considers planning and scheduling procedures such as the bar chart and sophisticated contemporary techniques ... highlights ways of avoiding common mistakes through data development ... and furnishes computer samples for estimating, cost control, cost forecasting, and scheduling. Illustrated with more than 180 excellent diagrams and drawings, and featuring convenient appendixes on foreign and remote projects, code of accounts and work breakdown structure, and typical project activities, Construction Cost Engineering Handbook is an indispensable reference for civil, cost, project, plant, design, construction, and industrial engineers and managers as well as architects, building contractors, and financial controllers involved with construction projects. Book jacket.

Exploring the methodology and overall strategy of project cost estimating, this book provides an introduction to statistics and databases, illustrating how they can help the cost estimator. The book offers an interactive approach where the reader is encouraged to participate in a series of CD or dice exercises to create a thorough understanding of the concepts involved.

In today's hypercompetitive global marketplace, accurate costestimating is crucial to bottom-line results. Nowhere is this moreevident than in the design and development of new products andservices. Among managing engineers responsible for developingrealistic cost estimates for new product designs, the number-onesource of information and guidance has been the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual. Comprehensive, authoritative, and practical, the Manual instructsreaders in the full range of cost estimating techniques andprocedures currently used in the fields of development, testing,manufacturing, production, construction, software, generalservices, government contracting, engineering services, scientificprojects, and proposal preparation. The authors clearly explain howto go about gathering the data essential to preparing a realisticestimate of costs and guide the reader step by step through eachprocedure. This new Second Edition incorporates a decade of progress in themethods, procedures, and strategies of cost estimating. All thematerial has been updated and five new chapters have been added toreflect the most recent information on such increasingly importanttopics as activity-based costing, software estimating,design-to-cost techniques, and cost implications of new concurrentengineering and systems engineering approaches to projects. Indispensable to virtually anyone whose work requires accurate costestimates, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual will be especiallyvaluable to engineers, estimators, accountants, and contractors ofproducts, projects, processes, and services to both government andindustry. The essential ready-reference for the techniques, methods, andprocedures of cost estimating COST ESTIMATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL Second Edition Indispensable for anyone who depends on accurate cost estimates forengineering projects, the Cost Estimator's Reference Manual guidesthe user through both the basic and more sophisticated aspects ofthe estimating process. Authoritative and comprehensive, the Manualseamlessly integrates the many functions--accounting, financial,statistical, and management--of modern cost estimating practice.Its broad coverage includes estimating procedures applied to suchareas as: * Production * Software * Development * General services * Testing * Government contracting * Manufacturing * Engineering * Proposal preparation * Scientific projects * Construction This updated and expanded Second Edition incorporates all the mostimportant recent developments in cost estimating, such asactivity-based costing, software estimating, design-to-costtechniques, computer-aided estimating tools, concurrentengineering, and life cycle costing. For engineers, estimators, accountants, planners, and others whoare involved in the cost aspects of projects, the Cost Estimator'sReference Manual is an invaluable information source that will payfor itself many times over.