ABSTRACT
It has long been realised that cost assessment should occur at the earliest possible time in the design process, preferably at the concept stage. Yet detailed information is rarely available at this stage and influence in the past has been limited to advising on good design practice in purely functional terms, on material selection and on generic cost avoidance practices. As detailed design follows schematic representations, the potential for cost reduction decreases but level of detailed information available for cost/manufacture analysis substantially increases. Cost analysis is more accurate at this level but is still subject to influences at the manufacturing planning stage. The planning stage is able to call
on very specific costing methods and data and will generate accurate costs uniquely associated with the plant available to manufacture the product. The computational expense of invoking process planning systems, if they are available, during the design phase is prohibitive and burdensome to the designer. Hence some other means of encouraging the designer to consider the manufacturing and cost of the design during the design phase must be sought.
