Use of the LeanCOST software platform for the Design to Cost and the estimation of product costs: case study company

CRIT organized a technological seminar addressed to its members and companies of the Accredited Suppliers Network on the theme “Use of the LeanCOST software platform for the Design to Cost and the estimation of product costs: case study company”, with the collaboration of CEFLA and Hyperlean (company that develops and sells innovative software solutions to support product design and development cycle).

Abstract

Estimating the cost of a product or an industrial process from the earliest stages of design is a complex and difficult operation, often entrusted to the experience of individuals and to inappropriate tools that hinder the sharing of information between the various company figures and the enhancement of company knowledge. In fact, knowing from the beginning the factors that influence the cost of a product since its design and understanding the impact of each design choice on the final cost can bring considerable competitive advantages. As is well known, as much as 80% of the final cost is determined in the early stages of the project: estimating and simulating the cost of a product in a fast and at the same time accurate way during the design allows therefore to choose the most advantageous solution, reducing costs and making a greater profit.

Design to Cost is a methodology aimed at optimizing the costs and timing of product industrialization, which aims to generate a process aimed at improving the performance and costs of the new product, from its conception to the production and post-sales phase. . The objective of the Design to Cost is to develop new and alternative solutions for the provision of functions, so as to maximize the total value of the product.

LeanCOST is a CAD-based software solution, developed by Hyperlean, for the Design to Cost and the estimation of product and process costs from the point of view of Design for Manufacturing. The tool is the brainchild of a group of young researchers from the Polytechnic University of Marche (Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences) with the aim of simplifying the work of those who deal with product costs and offer an efficient tool for their budgeting and management right from the early stages of the project. LeanCOST is an innovative software platform, perfectly integrated with the most well-known commercial CAD systems and able to dialogue with the ERP and PDM-PLM systems adopted in the company, which allows the cost of industrial products and processes to be estimated quickly and easily. The software has revolutionized the cost estimate in many Italian companies: the platform allows, in fact, to recover the geometric characteristics directly from the 3D models and automatically define the working processes to estimate times and costs quickly without losing accuracy and precision.

The objective of this meeting, organized by CRIT in collaboration with Hyperlean and CEFLA, is to illustrate to the CRIT network companies the possible application of a software platform such as LeanCOST within a more general business cost optimization project, as happened in the case of CEFLA.