Design to Cost and Life Cycle Cost.

Abstract : At symposium to explore the state of the technology of Design to Cost (DTC) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC), twenty-six papers were presented in four sessions on: LCC Methodology and its Relation to Specifications and Requirements; Impact of LCC Analysis on Total System Design; Cost Control of Operations and Support; and LCC of Subsystems and Components. These papers give a good overview of the approaches used in both industry and government to control costs and to optimize the engineering design to produce the most efficient aircraft possible. It seems clear that DTC is an incorrect expression since having set down specified requirements, it may be impossible to meet some equally tightly specified cost. The best one can hope for is the lowest cost to do the specified job. The question of the usefulness or the correctness of the specified requirements is often not attacked but it may be more important than all the DTC and LCC efforts to reduce life cycle costs. Once the requirements are laid down, the controllability of life cycle costs is greatest in the early conceptual phase, when uncertainty in cost estimation is largest. Hence, creative advanced design is a key for cost control. The overall theme in these papers is determining and minimizing costs. Engineering for reliability, maintainability, low fuel consumption and good performance does not necessarily increase initial costs but in many cases trade-off studies are required to ascertain the cost/benefit ratio of a design feature.