A Knowledge Formalization Approach for Manufacturing Cost Estimation

Abstract

Target pricing is a methodology to develop competitive products by determining the target price from market analyses. To guarantee the right profit margin, target cost is a direct consequence of target price. In this situation, the manufacturing cost estimation at the design phase becomes an essential task. The paper presents a framework for collecting knowledge required for estimating manufacturing cost of components. The framework consists of: (i) a cost breakdown structure used for splitting manufacturing costs, (ii) a data model for collecting that knowledge required for defining manufacturing processes, (iii) a data model for the collecting that knowledge required for computing the manufacturing cost of each operation within a manufacturing process and (iv) a workflow for analytically estimating cost of components. The framework has been mainly conceived for managing components realized through forming and shaping processes. The result presented in this paper guarantee the following benefits: (i) knowledge elicitation on product manufacturing cost, (ii) knowledge sharing among design/engineering departments, and (iii) knowledge capitalization for decision-making process.