Towards a Coordinated Approach to the Structuring of Cost and Design Models: A Case Example

During the early phases of design, engineering decisions are made affecting costs for the entire life cycle of a man-machine system, that is, from development through manufacture and operations. These critical decisions are commonly made without reference to total cost effects. Cost studies are conducted, of course, at various times and places in the organization. The difficulty is, however, that such efforts are too belated and/or fragmentary to be useful in attempts to evolve an economically efficient design.