Process Selection, Manufacturing Analysis & Part Costing Tool

Costing Tool

Application Description

The application is a development of the method described in the book noted below.

Initially, the user selects material, production quantity, and finished part volume or weight.

The component shape is then chosen from three primary forms:
[A] rotational, [B] prismatic or [C] thin walled. Each of the three primary shape classes has five levels of complexity to choose from.

The user then selects a proposed primary manufacturing process. Minimum material section, tolerance and surface finish are identified next.

With the selected set of factors, the application calculates a component cost index for that set of variables.

In addition, using the processes characteristics database, the application also returns a list of alternative process candidates in ascending cost index order.

Notes

In this demonstrator version, the cost returned is not an absolute cost but is a relative manufacturing cost index [MI] used to determine relative costs for each candidate process. This allows the designer to optimise the part design for a particular process or set of processes.

The items in yellow serve as both variable descriptions and links to pages of help information on the subject.

Application Variations

It is possible to vary the application to show quantity break points versus selected processes to determine how proposed market volumes affect process selection.

The application could be refined to obtain near absolute costs by using up-to-date material costs and by applying inflation factors to the basic manufacturing cost equations.

Disclaimer:

This product cost estimating tool demonstrator was developed using the principles outlined in the book 'Process Selection: from Design to Manufacture' by Swift and Booker and is provided without warranty of any kind.

Process Selection: from design to manufacture
Swift & Booker : Arnold or Wiley
ISBN: 0-7506-5437-6
Contains basic theory and drivers for the TeamSET Manufacturing Analysis (MA) module in addition to some others. A total of 48 processes are documented. Some process and shape classification is provided. 2nd edition more extensive.

Click here to run the cost estimating tool : Costing Tool Demo