Estimating the Cost of Advanced Composites Materials in Products
Its funny how we take some things for granted. For example we assumed everyone in the composites industry knew of our work in the Composites Affordability Initiative, and the advanced composites capabilities in our SEER models for cost, schedule, risk and reliability. Yet someone recently told us they nearly didn’t find us during an Internet search. SEER won at least two awards for this work, one with SAMPI as the most innovative product of the year, and another as one of the most valuable things to come out of the composites affordability initiative.
The Composites Affordability Initiative (CAI) Team was established in 1996 by the Air Force Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). When ManTech began CAI, its charter was to bring down the costs associated with the manufacture of composite structures, considered essential to high-performance aircraft advancement. What is now called the SEER Aerostructures plug-in is used by major aerospace manufacturers around the world. Specifically, the Aerostructures Plug-in for SEER-MFG includes over 25 existing and emerging composite fabrication and assembly processes, providing a method for quickly and accurately determining and evaluating costs of alternate designs and manufacturing processes. It enables an increased number of trade studies in a shorter period of time, resulting in cost reductions by the early identification of the most affordable composite structural concepts with greater dependability than previously possible. Additionally, the Detailed Composites capability in SEER-MFG was developed in conjunction with Airbus. Part shapes can be described in detail, including build-ups and cores, materials and resins, the material cutting process, the bagging process, consumable materials, hot-ply forming, curing, and trimming. Tooling manufacture costs and inspection costs using non-destructive testing techniques are included in the model.
Many examples of major cost savings have been noted using SEER and its advanced composites capability. For example ATK saves over a person year using SEER advanced composites capability and this doesn’t count the cost savings from choosing the most affordable approaches.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
Establishing the ROI on Software Through Examination of Total Ownership Costs
I get so excited when an organization does a true business case and evaluates cost versus benefits of a software / IT system along with the risks. . Part of the key is thinking and analysing and communicating like a C llevel person rather than like a technical person. Here is a link to the PowerPoint I did a webinar on this topic during July 2011 Establishing the ROI on Software Through Examination of Total Ownership Costs. The full recorded webinar is available on the ITMPI site as well.
One might say that business case analysis is finance 101 and I would agree… Sometimes uncommon success is achieved by doing common things uncommonly well.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
Communicating with Management Via Measurement
This is the abstract for my keynot talk at the ISMA measurement conference in Richmond.
Today many systems never do provide that positive return on investment, due to lack of information, overoptimistic benefit assumptions and underestimating costs. When IT and business management stakeholders become participants and consumers of measurement information decision making and problem solving benefit and everyone benefits: The business makes better decisions, IT becomes friend rather than foe, and IT expenditures become business investments instead of money sinks.
This presentation focuses on the application of measurement to devising solutions for problems and issues in software development and management. Measurement when optimally executed, is not a cost to a business, but is a source of increased success and business value. Well executed measurement provides insight to how the organization is doing in terms of things such as quality (e.g. defects per function point) and productivity (e.g. hours per function point) as well as providing the ability to estimate projects, programs, total cost of ownership and evaluate their return to the business. These measurement results, and others like them, are not the end result in themselves, but they are a foundation of management and business decisions. They can guide the business by answering important questions the will both impact the bottom line and steer IT into the role or a profit center rather than a cost. Also measurement and estimating can go hand in hand, providing the clarity of decisions and risk. And in-process measurement and estimation can steer projects toward success and flag issues before they become critical giving business stakeholders more confidence in IT and visibility into its productivity. Proper measurement analysis also provides information to substantiate saying no to a project or program that has a low probability of success or an insufficient return on investment and to ensure those with the most positive business impact are funded.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
Original Function Point Paper
Here is (one of) the original papers on Function Points, circa 1983.
I love the simple definition of function points in the paper: “…essentially the weight sum of the number of inputs, outputs, master files, inquiries provided to or generated by the software.”
Today function points are a widely used method of defining software size or scope. Many organizations use them for estimating. Many also use them for executive oversight of software development using metrics such as hours per function point and number of defects per function point.
It is interesting to note that one of the major findings was the high correlation between lines of code and function points and the work pointing to Halstead’s software science and their relation to function points. He demonstrated a correlation from .854 to .997 of lines of code to function points in this paper.
It is also a walk down memory lane for me. My foray into estimating, after my project being killed due to my estimate, was Halstead’s software science.
Thank you for reading “Dan on Estimating”, if you would like more information about Galorath’s estimation models, please visit our contact page or call us at +1 310 414-3222.
Project Prediction Infographic
