Guide 05 of 10
These are the tools cost engineers use today, from software that estimates what a part should cost to scanners that can see inside a competitor’s product. They can turn weeks of work into hours.
Costing software such as aPriori, Tset or Siemens Teamcenter Product Cost Management reads a 3D CAD model, simulates how the part would be made, and estimates the cycle time, tooling and piece cost in different regions, all before any supplier quotes.
From CAD model to cost estimate in minutesA cost model built up from the bottom: material weight, cycle times, machine rates, labour and a fair margin. Every figure can be seen and checked, which makes it the basis for any serious negotiation.
Negotiate with facts, not percentagesIndustrial CT scanning and 3D scanning let you look inside a competitor’s product without taking it apart. You can see wall thicknesses, hidden joints, weld quality and how it’s put together, and build a full digital parts list.
See inside a competitor’s productCombine your purchasing data with your parts lists to find the same part being bought at different prices across plants, programmes and suppliers. It’s usually the quickest saving you’ll find.
The same part should cost the same everywhereSoftware tries thousands of shapes against the loads and manufacturing limits you set, and finds designs that use as little material as possible, often shapes a person wouldn’t think to draw.
The software suggests, the engineers check3D printing can combine dozens of parts into one, make small batches without tooling, produce moulds with cooling channels that follow the part’s shape, and turn out working prototypes quickly for VE trials.
Complex shapes cost no more to makeWhen a design has been checked by simulation, you can remove extra safety margins with confidence. Virtual experiments also replace costly physical trials when you’re testing a new material or process.
Test it on screen, save it in productionAI language models can search warranty reports, quotes, standards and past VE ideas. Knowledge graphs link functions, parts, costs and suppliers together, so lessons from past studies aren’t lost.
Your company’s experience, easy to findA supplier’s quote is a single number. A should-cost model breaks it into seven parts, each worked out from engineering facts and market rates, and each one something you can discuss separately with the supplier.
Free, narrated and interactive — with a Certificate of Completion.