When considering the addition of a mobile presentation channel to an existing web-based application, project managers should know how the mobile channel|s characteristics will impact the user experience and the cost of using the application, even before development begins. The PETTICOAT (Performance Tuning and cost discovery of mobile web-based Applications) approach presented here provides decision-makers with indicators on the economical feasibility of mobile channel development. In a nutshell, it involves analysing interaction patterns on the existing stationary channel, identifying key business processes among them, measuring the time and data volume incurred in their execution, and then simulating how the same interaction patterns would run when subjected to the frame conditions of a mobile channel. As a result of the simulation, we then gain time and volume projections for those interaction patterns that allow us to estimate the costs incurred by executing certain business processes on different mobile channels.

Background: Additive manufacturing has recently gained cogency as a final part manufacturing technique. The method uses a layer-upon-layer technique to build three-dimensional objects. This technique has many advantages creating new opportunities regarding production. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate cost elements, cost drivers, their weight distribution, and to explore production uncertainties of the additive manufacturing process. The production uncertainty parameters of the explored uncertainties are then evaluated to investigate how some of them impacts the production cost of the case component. Method: The following study have used qualitative data collection methods in terms of interviews together with a pre-study and a sensitivity analysis tool to identify cost impacts of uncertainty parameters. Five primary interviews were performed with employees at the company with relevant knowledge of the studied field. Results: The result shows that the product cost can be divided into two categories of material cost and manufacturing costs, these two categories then have different cost elements that drives cost. The explored uncertainties of the process consist of both aleatory and epistemic uncertainty. The explored production uncertainty parameter that affects the final product cost the most is the time needed to finish the AM build. Conclusions: Considering production uncertainty is important in order to have reliable and accurate cost estimations. The three explored production uncertainties that have the most significant impact on the final product cost is the yearly machine running time, the SLM machine time needed to finish the component, and reduced manning time in the operations. These three uncertainty parameters should, therefore, have a larger focus than variables that do not have the same impact on the final product cost, to create better cost estimations. / Bakgrund: Additiv tillverkning har på senaste tiden fått slagkraft som en produktionsteknik för slutprodukter. Additiv tillverkning använder en lager på lager teknik för att bygga tre-dimensionella objekt. Denna teknik har många fördelar som skapar många nya produktionsmöjligheter. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka kostnadselement, kostnadsdrivare, fördelningen av kostnader och att utforska produktionsosäkerheter inom additiv tillverkning. De utforskade osäkerhetsparametrarna inom processen är sedan studerade för att se hur de påverkar den slutgiltiga produktkostnaden. Metod: Följande studie har använt kvalitativa datainsamlingsmetoder i form av intervjuer tillsammans med en förstudie och ett utvecklat känslighetsanalysverktyg för att identifiera kostnadsförändringar på grund av förändringar i osäkerhetsparametrar. Fem stycken intervjuer har genomförts med anställda på företaget som har relevant kunskap inom området. Resultat: Resultatet visar att produktkostnaden kan delas upp i två kategorier, materialkostnad och tillverkningskostnad. Dessa två kategorier består sedan av olika kostnadselement som driver kostnader. De utforskade produktions osäkerheterna inom processen består av två typer av osäkerheter beskriven i teorin. Den produktionsosäkerhetsparameter som har störst påverkan på produktens slutkostnad är SLM maskintiden som krävs för att bygga komponenten. Slutsatser: Att beakta produktionsosäkerheter i kostnadsuppskattningar är viktigt för att uppskattningarna ska vara tillförlitliga och korrekta. De tre studerade produktionsosäkerheterna som har störst påverkan på den slutgiltiga produktionskostnaden är årlig maskinanvändning, SLM maskintiden som krävs för att bygga komponenten och bemanningstiden för operationerna. Dessa tre osäkerhetsparametrar bör därför ha ett större fokus eftersom de har störts påverkan på slutresultatet.

Cost Overrun is something that plagues infrastructure projects, both in Sweden and globally. The repercussion of it can be severe since it not only hurts the public’s perception of how the public authorities manage and allocates its resources, but also due to the immense opportunity costs that arise when the increased costs need to be covered. In general, the factors that lead to cost overrun in infrastructure transport projects can often be derived from technical, psychological, political, and economical factors, and it is not uncommon that there is a combination of these factors, which is why the subject of cost overrun is so complex. With a highly unique dataset, this paper examines cost overrun in Swedish infrastructure transport projects to see if there is a statistical relationship between cost overrun and the size of a project, its regional location, and whether it is a road- or railway project. Furthermore, an evaluation of the process of estimating and forecasting costs will be conducted. The results shows that the characteristics of regional locations have a significant relationship with projects experiencing cost overrun and that cost overrun is more common in smaller projects. There were no significant differences in cost overrun between types of projects, but it was found that between the period 2018 to 2022, cost estimates had been underestimated by approximately 34%.

A study of the viabliness of a UAV for humanitarian relief missions has been done. With an aeronautical model fulfilling humanitarian logistics has then the manufacture and operational life-cycle costs as well as the present air jurisdiction. In contrast to this has also an evaluation of the empty weight conceptual estimation equation been reviewed and what conditions fairly describes the sizing of a UAV. The study finds there’s a technical possibility, economic plausibility but a need for legal development. The coefficients which are sufficient to estimate the empty weight ratio are the Home built aircrafts and powered sailplane. The study concludes what present off-the-shelf systems that might be suitable to sustain humanitarian relief missions. / Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka möjligheterna för att använda drönare till att leverera humanitär hjälp. Att ge humanitär hjälp innebär att man assisterar stater i att leverera nödvändiga varor och tjänster till områden där den nationella staten behöver assistans för att upprätthålla nödvändiga livsvillkor för befolkningen. Det kan vara att leverera mat och mediciner men även enklare skolmateriel eller liknande. Oftast är orsaken bakom en humanitär insats att det skett någon typ av katastrof, det kan vara både natur och mänskligt skapade katastrofer. Ett exempel på en sådan nylig kris har varit inbördeskriget som rasat i Syrien under större delen av 2010-talet. Ett problem som har dykt upp är att det är svårt att få fram rätt hjälp dit den behövs, speciellt om de civila som har behovet befinner sig i en krigszon. I ett sådant fall är det mycket riskabelt att transportera och leverera humanitär hjälp till de som behöver det. De riskerar att bli skjutna, kidnappade och kapade. Detta skapar både personliga och materiella skador. Frågan blir då om man skulle kunna leverera den hjälpen med drönare, för att minska risken för personskador men också minska effekten för hela hjälpinsatsen om en eller flera av drönare skulle förvinna. Det som komplicerar hela i logistiken är att man måste ta hänsyn till hur personer byter besittning av godsen och hur man verifierar att varje person får just rätt hjälp. Speciellt då värdet av godset i en kris kan bli asymptotiskt högt. För att testa huruvida det är möjligt att använda UAV:er för humanitär hjälp skapades en simuleringsmodell av en drönare. Eftersom det förväntades att ett uppdrag är ungefär 300 km + 300km tur-o-retur övergavs någon typ av helikopterdesign tidigt. Modellen simulerade många uppdrag som bedömdes vara relevanta för en UAV som skulle leverera humanitär hjälp. Utifrån dessa uppdrag bedömdes några av de operativa kostnader som var knutna till uppdragen. Det gäller främst tillverkningskostnader, bränslekostnader samt avgifter som behöver betalas av den som använder luftrummet. Det finns en bok som är flygplanskonstruktörens bibel (Aircraft Design). Den är skriven av Daniel P. Raymer. Han föreslår där en formel för hur man konceptuellt kan bestämma vikten av ett nytt flygplan. De befintliga planen jämfördes sedan med formeln för att undersöka om dessa också stämde på drönare. Eftersom drönare inte har piloter ombord innebär det att vissa apparater inte behöver finnas på det flygplanet, vilket kan tänkas ändra hur mycket en UAV estimeras väga jämfört med ett vanligt plan. Studien kommer fram till att det som Raymer har föreslagit verkar för det mesta vara rättvisande även när man designar UAV:er. Avslutningsvis identifieras tre olika drönare som med mer eller mindre modifiering skulle kunna användas för humanitära insatser. Dock är, som nämnt tidigare, de flesta UAV:er utvecklade för olika typer av informationssamling. Då flera av dessa apparater inte är lika nödvändiga i en humanitär-logistisk situation är det sannolikt att inköpspriset skulle vara billigare än annars. Slutsatserna är att det nu är tekniskt möjligt att använda drönare för humanitär hjälp, ekonomiskt är det möjligt om än dyrt men juridiskt är det i dagsläget inte möjligt. Juridiken och reglementet för hur avgiftssystemet och luftrummet fungerar behöver utvecklas för att på ett hållbart och säkert sätt integrera autonoma farkoster med befintlig luftfart. Beroende på hur regleringarna av luftrummet förändras, ändras även de ekonomiska förutsättningarna för att använda drönare för att utföra logistiska uppdrag.

The art of estimating and managing costs is commonly referred to as cost engineering which is a vital tool to counteract cost uncertainty. Current research within the area mainly focuses on the cost estimation techniques themselves and the strategic implications have not yet been studied in-depth, nor been set into relation to traditional sourcing strategies. This study investigates how cost engineering should be used strategically within industrial sourcing. The research is conducted as a three-staged case study at a manufacturing company, including a qualitative part consisting of a literature review, interviews and analysis of artefacts, and a quantitative part consisting of a multiple regression analysis and a Welch-ANOVA test. The results from this study include a list of procurement attributes that a↵ect cost uncertainty and an assessment of their impact as well as insights on how cost engineering usage affect negotiation dynamics and supplier relationships. As a part of the study’s discussion, a strategic framework for cost engineering focus within industrial sourcing during the different phases of the product life cycle is presented. The proposed strategy involves insights on what cost engineering actions that have to be taken, which types of components the efforts should be focused on and what prerequisites that have to be present. The study shows that inter-organisation sharing of cost data, supplier relationships, changes in purchasing volume and product life cycle phase are of central importance when focusing cost engineering resources. / Hantverket att uppskatta och hantera kostnader är vanligtvis benämnt kostnadsestimeringsteknik vilket är ett viktigt verktyg för att motverka kostnadsosäkerhet. Befintlig forskning inom området behandlar i huvudsak teknikerna för kostnadsestimering i sig och de strategiska implikationerna har varken utretts på djupet eller satts i relation till traditionella inköpsstrategier. Denna studie undersöker hur kostnadsestimeringsteknik ska användas strategiskt inom industriellt inköp. Forskningen är bedriven som en fallstudie i tre delar på ett tillverkande företag och innehåller en kvalitativ del bestående av en litteraturstudie, en intervjustudie samt en analys av artefakter. Detta kompletteras med en kvantitativ statistisk analys innehållande en multipel linjär regressionanalys samt ett Welch-ANOVA-test. Resultaten från denna studie inkluderar en lista med inköpsfaktorer som påverkar kostnadsosäkerhet och ett fastställande av deras påverkan. Detta kompletteras med insikter angående hur användandet av kostnadsestimeringar påverkar förhandlingssituationer och leverantörsrelationer. Som en del av studiens diskussion presenteras ett strategiskt ramverk för hur man bör fokuera arbetet med kostnadsestimeringsteknik under de olika faserna i produktlivscykeln. Den föreslagna strategin involverar förslag på hur kostnadsestimeringsteknik bör användas, vilken typ av komponenter insatserna bör fokusera på samt vilka förutsättningar som måste finnas på plats. Studien visar att interorganisationellt delande av kostnadsdata, leverantörsrelationer, förändring i inköpsvolym och fas i produktlivscykeln är centrala faktorer som påverkar hur resurser för kostnadsestimeringsteknik ska fördelas.

The U.S. Navy has been confronted with budget cuts and constraints during recent years. This reduction in budget compels the U.S. Navy to limit the number of manpower and personnel to control costs. Reducing the total ownership cost (TOC) has become a major topic of interest for the Navy as plans are made for current and future fleets. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO, 2003), manpower is the most influential component of determining the life cycle cost of a ship. The vast majority of the TOC is comprised of operating and support (O&S) costs which account for approximately 65 percent of the TOC. Manpower and personnel costs account for approximately 50 percent of O&S costs. This research focused on tradeoff analysis and cost estimation between manpower and new technology implementation. Utilizing concepts from System Dynamics Modeling (SDM), System Dynamics Causal Loop diagrams (CLD) were built to identify major factors when implementing new technology, and then stocks and flows diagrams were developed to estimate manpower cost associated with new technology implementation. The SDM base model reflected an 18 months period for technology implementation, and then compared different technology implementation for different scenarios. This model had been tested by the public data from Department of the Navy (DoN) Budget estimates. The objective of this research was to develop a SDM to estimate manpower cost and technology tradeoff analysis associated with different technology implementations. This research will assist Navy decision makers and program managers when objectively considering the impacts of iii technology selection on manpower and associated TOC, and will provide managers with a better understanding of hidden costs associated with new technology adoption. Recommendations were made for future study in manpower cost estimation of ship systems. In future studies, one particular type of data should be located to test the model for a specific manpower configuration.

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The purpose of a cost model is to provide designers and decision-makers with accurate cost information to assess and compare multiple alternatives for obtaining the optimal solution and controlling cost. The cost models developed in the design phases are the most important and the most difficult to develop. Therefore it is necessary to identify appropriate cost drivers and employ appropriate modeling techniques to accurately estimate cost for directing designers. The objective of this study is to provide higher predictive accuracy of cost estimation for directing designer in the early design phases of complex products. After a generic cost estimation model is presented and the existing methods for identification of cost drivers and different cost modeling techniques are reviewed, the dissertation first proposes new methodologies to identify and select the cost drivers: Causal-Associated (CA) method and Tabu-Stepwise selection approach. The CA method increases understanding and explanation of the cost analysis and helps avoid missing some cost drivers. The Tabu-Stepwise selection approach is used to select significant cost drivers and eliminate irrelevant cost drivers under nonlinear situation. A case study is created to illustrate their procedure and benefits. The test data show they can improve predictive capacity. Second, this dissertation introduces Tabu-SVR, a nonparametric approach based on support vector regression (SVR) for cost estimation for complex products in the early design phases. Tabu-SVR determines the parameters of SVR via a tabu search algorithm improved by the author. For verification and validation of performance on Tabu-SVR, the five common basic cost characteristics are summarized: accumulation, linear function, power function, step function, and exponential function. Based on these five characteristics and the Flight Optimization Systems (FLOPS) cost module (engine part), seven test data sets are generated to test Tabu-SVR and are used to compare it with other traditional methods (parametric modeling, neural networking and case-based reasoning). The results show Tabu-SVR significantly improves the performance compared to SVR based on empirical study. The radial basis function (RBF) kernel, which is much more robust, often has better performance over linear and polynomial kernel functions. Compared with other traditional cost estimating approaches, Tabu-SVR with RBF kernel function has strong predicable capability and is able to capture nonlinearities and discontinuities along with interactions among cost drivers. The third part of this dissertation focuses on semiparametric cost estimating approaches. Extensive studies are conducted on three semiparametric algorithms based on SVR. Three data sets are produced by combining the aforementioned five common basic cost characteristics. The experiments show Semiparametric Algorithm 1 is the best approach under most situations. It has better cost estimating accuracy over the pure nonparametric approach and the pure parametric approach. The model complexity influences the estimating accuracy for Semiparametric Algorithm 2 and Algorithm 3. If the inexact function forms are used as the parametric component of semiparametric algorithm, they often do not bring any improvement of cost estimating accuracy over the pure nonparametric approach and even worsen the performance. The last part of this dissertation introduces two existing methods for sensitivity analysis to improve the explanation capability of the cost estimating approach based on SVR. These methods are able to show the contribution of cost drivers, to determine the effect of cost drivers, to establish the profiles of cost drivers, and to conduct monotonic analysis. They finally can help designers make trade-off study and answer “what-i” questions. / Ph. D.

Yes / Reducing the cost of fresh water has always been a major concern in the desalination industry. A solar powered hybrid multi-effect distillation and reverse osmosis desalination plant (MED+RO) has been designed and optimised from an economical point of view in a previous work by the same authors. In the present study, the possibility of coupling the desalination plant with a photovoltaic (PV) solar farm is investigated, with the aim of generating electricity at low cost and in a sustainable way. A detailed mathematical model for the PV system has been implemented from the literature. Interestingly, the model can predict the cost of the PV system in terms of capital cost and electricity cost per kWh considering the input data of solar irradiation, duration of daylight and technical specification of a real solar module. Consequently, the solar PV model has been combined with the desalination model, which enables to estimate the cost of fresh water per cubic meter. Data about four locations, namely Isola di Pantelleria (IT), Las Palmas (ES), Abu Dhabi (UAE), and Perth (AUS), have been used to economically test the feasibility of installing the proposed plant, and especially of the PV solar farm.

Modelagem da Informação da Construção ou BIM (Building Information Modeling) é um processo inovador aplicado na gestão de todo o ciclo de vida de um empreendimento. Por meio do BIM, desenvolve-se o modelo virtual do empreendimento a ser construído. Os componentes deste modelo contêm geometria e parâmetros com dados técnicos relevantes para sua caracterização e utilização. No segmento de obras de sistemas prediais, os contratantes ditam os valores dos contratos, cabendo às empresas construtoras e instaladoras fazerem uma estimativa de orçamento acurada para dominar os custos e mensurar seus riscos no contrato almejado. Dada esta perspectiva, existe a necessidade de determinar com precisão os quantitativos do projeto, ponto de partida de qualquer orçamento analítico ou detalhado. Este trabalho, dividido em dois estudos de caso, destina-se a compreender como a Modelagem da Informação da Construção pode alterar o processo de orçamentação nas empresas instaladoras, auxiliando na extração de quantitativos e compatibilização dos projetos. Baseando-se em um fluxo de trabalho BIM descrito por Eastman et al. (2011) e utilizando-se em conjunto o processo de modelagem proposto por Nguyen (2010), propõe-se que o desenvolvedor do modelo BIM de sistemas prediais seja a empresa instaladora, por esta ser o agente ativo na orçamentação e execução dos sistemas prediais. Nos estudos de caso, foi comparado a acurácia dos quantitativos de componentes do empreendimento dentre as propostas orçamentarias das empresas instaladoras, o modelo BIM criado, e o quantitativo real utilizado na execução de uma obra de um centro comercial. Os resultados desta pesquisa sugerem que a utilização do BIM é uma alternativa viável para as empresas instaladoras em seus processos de orçamentação, considerando-se o nível de detalhamento e as informações inseridas e a serem extraídas do modelo, conforme o processo apresentado e o guia de modelagem criado no decorrer deste trabalho. / Building Information Modeling is an innovative process applied to the management of the entire lifecycle of a project. Through BIM, the virtual model of the project to be constructed is developed. The components of this model contain geometry and parameters with relevant technical data for their characterization and use. In the building systems works market segment, contractors dictate the values of contracts and is up to the construction and installation companies to make an accurate estimate of the budget to master the costs and measure their risks on the desired contract. Given this perspective, there is a need to accurately determine the quantities of the project, which are the starting point of any analytical or detailed budget. This work, divided into two case studies, was designed to understand how Building Information Modeling can change the budgeting process in the building systems companies, assisting in the quantity take off and design coordination processes. Relying on a BIM workflow described by Eastman et al. (2011) and jointly using the modeling process proposed by Nguyen (2010), it is proposed the building systems company to be the developer of the MEP model, as this is the active agent in the costing and execution of building systems. In these case studies, we compare the accuracy of the quantitative components of the project, among: the building systems companies, the BIM model and the actual quantities used in the execution of a small shopping center. These results suggest that the use of BIM is a viable alternative to the MEP companies in their budgeting processes, considering the level of detail and the model information input and output, according to the process and modeling guide proposed here.