 Quantifying the effects of parts consolidation and development costs on material selection decisions: A process-based costing approachMichael Johnson and Randolph Kirchain International Journal of Production Economics, 2009, vol. 119, issue 1, 174-186 Abstract: Product designers must continually assess trade-offs among various performance attributes and cost. Materials choice can play an important role in that decision-making process. Materials affect many aspects of a product and firm--architecture, manufacture, and product performance. This paper examines the interrelationship of these early stage design choices through the application of process-based cost modeling. To capture the far-ranging effects of materials selection, models are presented which forecast the costs of development, manufacture, and assembly. A case study is detailed concerning two alternative material options for an automotive instrument panel beam: a conventional design (i.e., stamped steel) and a die-cast magnesium design which affords significant parts consolidation. Results indicate that parts consolidation led to both lower assembly and development costs. These cost reductions are shown to be a direct result of the consolidation of parts in the magnesium design. Keywords: Materials; selection; Cost; Automobile; Case; study; Parts; consolidation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:proeco:v:119:y:2009:i:1:p:174-186 Access Statistics for this article International Journal of Production Economics is currently edited by Stefan Minner More articles in International Journal of Production Economics from Elsevier |
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