Estimating cost at the conceptual design stage to optimize design in terms of performance and cost

In the highly competitive business environment, cost estimation is a strategic tool, which can be used to assist decision making with regard to products throughout their life cycle. 70 to 80 percent of the life-cycle costs of a product are determined by decision taken by designers during the early design stages. Therefore it is important to estimate and optimise cost as early and as accurately as possible. The main aim of this research is to use typically available information at the conceptual stage of design and estimate cost in order to optimise design in terms of performance and cost. The main objective is to employ Design of Experiments (Taguchi method) to use the sparse information more effectively in order to estimate the cost of a product at the early design stage. This paper presents the current status of the research activity. A case study is introduced which illustrates the initial applications of the optimization process. Conclusions are then discussed and the future research described.