A Knowledge-Based Decision Support System For Costing Job Orders

The problem of bidding on a customized product in a manufacturing environment is very complex. Such bidding requires determination of labor, material, production process requirements, outsourcing strategies, if necessary, and the recognition of profit margins. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of knowledge based decision support system to deal with the bidding problem for a forging and steel company. The decision support system captures engineers’ expertise, uses group technology principles for product classification, and uses the business domain specific knowledge. It is implemented in Microsoft Access, a relational database system. The objectives of this decision support system were to cost the majority of the jobs efficiently and effectively, standardize the bidding process, aid the salespersons, and provide means to facilitate learning from past successful and unsuccessful bids. The formidable problems encountered in development, validation, and implementation of the system are also discussed.