Life cycle cost estimation tool for decision-making in the early phases of the design process

Design is a process that involves information processing and decision-making. As cost is an important factor that must be considered in the decision-making at this phase, proper information about costs is extremely important for designers. The authors present a cost model and tool developed to help designers estimate the life cycle cost of their products and to permit them to make more cost-effective design decisions. The tool can be used in a concurrent engineering environment to provide cost estimates for different design alternatives. What-if analyses can be performed to compare costs when using different components, materials or manufacturing processes.