Concurrent cost estimating

A methodology for concurrent cost estimating is proposed, developed, and demonstrated. The approach is novel in that the traditional means of process planning is exploited without being time-consuming and iterative, as is typical. Design abstractions are used to characterize the component specifications, thereby enabling cost estimating as the design progresses.The relevance of cost information for new product development is emphasized. Product and process development strategies and cost estimating approaches are investigated for objectives, attributes, and methodologies. A correlation between product design phases and process planning activities is proposed as the basis for a concurrent cost estimating framework.Design features and geometric tolerances are the basis for exploiting the fundamentals of operation planning and setup planning when developing a general cost model for the machining domain. The model enables the use of design-based characterizations, which allows for cost estimating at a very early stage, before designs have been released for tasks such as cost estimating by process planners.The validation domain is machining, with demonstrated results for hole making (drill, tap, chamfer), and turning (cylinder, face, taper, blend, corner round). A proposal for the milling process is discussed. Implementation details for the turning system is included for completeness.Cost estimating accuracies for features and components are within 10%.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio