10 Step Estimation Process Sample Checklist
View our 10 Step Estimating Process Checklist. This checklist should be tuned to the individual company’s needs and suggestions.
The Importance of Detailed and Structured Data
Effective repositories for cost engineering data are critical for conducting meaningful post-mortem analyses. They allow organizations to assess project outcomes, identify inefficiencies, and improve future cost estimation methods. By organizing technical, cost-related, and contextual information, repositories provide a reliable way to evaluate project performance and draw actionable insights.
A defining feature of a strong repository is its ability to present data in a detailed and structured format. It should categorize information to enable clear comparison and analysis. For example, systems like NASA’s CADRe segment project data into technical descriptions, cost inputs, and outcomes. This approach ensures that both subsystem details and higher-level project insights are readily available. Such structure helps clarify cost drivers, making the repository accessible across projects and teams.
Including Contextual Information
Including contextual information is equally significant. Cost drivers are not solely technical. Regulatory constraints, external challenges such as supply chain issues, and organizational factors, including team expertise, often influence costs. Without recording this context, repositories risk providing incomplete data that may lead to inaccurate conclusions in future analyses.
Leveraging Technical Expertise
Incorporating the expertise of technical teams enhances repositories. Engineers bring valuable knowledge that can help break systems into their core components, highlighting where costs may stabilize or escalate. For instance, analyzing a spacecraft might involve separating standard power systems from advanced sensors requiring new technologies. Repositories that reflect this level of decomposition allow cost engineers to assess specific factors, such as power requirements or thermal characteristics, rather than relying on generalized estimates.
Accurate and Accessible Historical Data
The usefulness of a repository depends on accurate and accessible historical data. Effective repositories capture not only cost figures but also the conditions under which those costs arose. A project completed during labor shortages or under specific regulatory environments may reflect higher-than-usual costs. This additional context helps future analysts adjust for such variables. Parametric modeling software, like SEER by Galorath, further refine repositories by enabling systematic adjustments for evolving technical and contextual factors.
Regular Updates and Post-Mortem Analyses
To remain effective, repositories require regular updates and reviews through post-mortem analyses. Capturing lessons learned immediately after project completion ensures that both technical and cost-related insights remain accurate and actionable. This practice avoids reliance on outdated data and strengthens the repository’s value for future projects. Organizations that adopt such practices often establish policies to mandate cost-related lessons learned, ensuring that every completed project informs future decisions.
Regular Updates and Post-Mortem Analyses
Regular updates and post-mortem analyses are vital to maintaining a repository’s effectiveness. These efforts require formal policies and dedicated funding. Without such commitments, projects often lack the structure needed to document lessons learned, cost inputs, and final outcomes. It is common for teams to complete a project phase and move on, skipping the effort of recording the challenges and insights gained during the process. This lack of documentation leads to incomplete data entries, which limits the repository’s ability to inform future projects or improve estimation tools. Organizations with successful repositories create clear guidelines and allocate resources to ensure thorough documentation. By embedding these practices into formal processes, they establish systems that drive continuous improvements in cost engineering.
A well-designed repository integrates structured data, contextual insights, and technical expertise while staying adaptable to changing methodologies. Organizations that prioritize these features create resources that not only improve post-mortems but also support more reliable and informed cost engineering practices over time.
Estimating Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Find out how you can use Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model to create an estimate which includes all the costs generated over the useful life of a given application.
Should Cost Analysis
Learn how Should-Cost Analysis can identify savings opportunities and drive cost efficiency in procurement and manufacturing processes.
ROM Estimate: The First Step Towards a Detailed Project Plan
Find out what ROM (rough order of magnitude) estimate is and why is it a crucial element of every project planning cycle.
Software Maintenance Cost
Find out why accurate estimation of software maintenance costs is critical to proper project management, and how it can make up to roughly 75% of the TCO.
