Quantitative and qualitative cost estimating for engineering design

This paper describes the development of a cost-estimating methodology for predicting the cost of engineering design effort during the conceptual stages of product development. The research was carried out within a large European aerospace manufacturer whose traditional costing practices had become outdated. The main objective was to generate a suite of technical Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs) that integrate both quantitative and qualitative non-recurring airframe engineering input for the design process. Both the quantitative and qualitative design activities were separated during the CER development. At the end of the development process, they were integrated to produce a final CER. The results demonstrate that these newly generated CERs can predict the future design effort required, based on the typically limited product definition at the conceptual design stage.