Abstract
Product and process realization for innovative mechanical products often risks considerable cost- and schedule-related problems A tool to aid rapid evaluation of the aggregate development cost and time implications of alternate preliminary designs and design processes could therefore be valuable, particularly in a concurrent engineering environment. To this end, a model is proposed and demonstrated with a proof-of-concept computer implementation. There are several potential applications envi sioned: as a "prospectus" for new product designs to evaluate development cost and time within a specific organizational context; to assist managers in concurrent scheduling of design, tooling, and other preproduction activities; as a vehicle for budget negotiation between engineers and financial managers during the design process, and as an aid for value analysis This research is intended as a starting point to investigate new computer-based management tools made possible in part by emerging engineering design representations and related methodologies for cost and time evaluation
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
