ABSTRACT
If we heed the wisdom of Albert Einstein, we will recognise that sometimes we have to resort to a more qualitative or subjective assessment than rely exclusively on a quantitative or numerical evaluation. The Delphi Technique was developed in the USA during the Cold War to predict and quantify the emerging military technologies and capabilities of the Soviet Union. A Driver Cross-Impact Analysis can be used where we have a number of competing or interacting factors or attributes that might have a bearing on the outcome of our estimating process and/or estimates that we create. A Driver Cross-Impact Analysis may not always be the most appropriate tool for solution optimisation, a challenge with which some estimators or cost engineers may be tasked to perform in support of their engineering colleagues. Quality Function Deployment is a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary technique that helps to interpret customer requirements or preferences into physical engineering features or attributes using Value Engineering techniques, through to product delivery.
