3.2 Cost Assessment
Cost Assessment, essential to a well run program, is a detailed technique
for calculating the effective cost of a product (direct materials, direct
labor, and overhead). Cost assessments for every stage in the project
development process are necessary to ensure effective cost management.
Reliable cost estimates provide staffing and budgeting decisions that allow
effective use of resources throughout the life of the program. Cost Assessment
is accomplished by assessing all available data, applying that data with good
judgment, and reviewing past experience. An accurate cost assessment will
depend on the level of understanding of the problem, the completeness and the
correctness of the information relating to the cost driving parameters, and
the quality of the cost model itself. Cost assessments should be made
periodically throughout the life of the program using data from actual
expenditures to ensure effective cost management.
3.2 Cost Assessment Expert
Questions
| 3.2.1 |
|
Have the Design-to-Cost (DTC) goals been
developed? |
| 3.2.2 |
|
Has the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis
been conducted, and is it being used as part of the design trade-off
analysis? |
| 3.2.3 |
|
Do contract award factors include
elements to allow increased unit costs for reduced operating costs
(including personnel and maintenance)? |
| 3.2.4 |
|
Has an enemy cost-to-counter study been
conducted, and do the results indicate a 10 to 1 factor or
greater? |
| 3.2.5 |
|
Have an Independent Cost Effectiveness
(ICE) and a Cost and Operational Effectiveness Analysis (COEA) been
prepared? |
| 3.2.6 |
|
Have make-or-buy studies been conducted
as part of the iterative trade-off studies process (with emphasis on
buy)? |
