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BOOKS

 

From Product Description to Cost: A Practical Approach

Parametric cost estimating, when properly used, is a powerful and cost effective technique. Unfortunately, it is often misunderstood and rejected by many potential users for whom it could be a beneficial tool. An agreement on how to use it and how to recognise its limitations is a major benefit to the cost estimating community. This book presents ways of parametrically forecasting costs and their advantages and disadvantages with examples from the mechanical, software and building industries and discusses most of the mathematical procedures useful for parametrically forecasting costs. Introduces the judgement needed to audit the ways these techniques are used, firstly as a process and secondly as a tool to generate estimates

 

Volume 1: The Parametric Approach

Volume 1: "The Parametric Approach" cost estimating is introduced; the preparation of data before utilization is discussed; the basic concepts of ‘general’ cost estimating models are examined; the use of cost models is considered and finally, risk analysis is introduced.

Contents: Part 1: Cost Estimating: A definition.- Cost Measurement.- Overview of Cost Estimating.- ‘Elementary Cost Estimating’.- An Introduction To Parametrics for the Beginner.- Part 2: Data Collection.- Economic Conditions and Currencies.- The Cost Improvement Curves.- Plant Capacity and Workload.- Other Normalizations.- Part 3: Definition of a General Model.- Building a General Model.- New Concepts in General Modelization.- Modelization in Other Classes.- A Word about the Future.- Part 4: Using a Specific Model.- Using a General Model.- Introduction to Risk Analysis.- Auditing Parameters.

2006  XVIII, 299 p. 88 illus. Hardcover
Decision Engineering
ISBN 1-85233-973-X

 

Volume 2: Building a Specific Model

Volume 2: "Building a Specific Model" focuses on the building of ‘specific’ cost estimating models. Understanding the procedures is key in creating successful specific models; so all these procedures (classical and new) are described in this volume.

 

Contents: Part 1: Population and Sample.- Describing a Population.- Typical Distributions.- Part 2: Dealing with One Variable Only.- Data Analysis of Two Variables.- Simultaneous Data Analysis on J Quantitative Variables.- Working with Qualitative Variables.- Part 3: Finding the Center of the Cost Distribution : Choosing a Metric.- Looking for the Dynamic Center: The Bi-linear Cases.- Using Several Quantitative Parameters: The Linear Cases.- Using Qualitative Variables.- Non-linear Relationships.- Part 4: Studying the Additive Residuals.- The Other Residuals.- Part 5: From Sample to Population.- Building the Model.

2006  XXXVI, 362 p. 171 illus. Hardcover
Decision Engineering
ISBN 1-84628-042-7

 

 

CONFERENCES

International Society of Parametric Analysts 

SPA is a professional society dedicated to the improvement and promotion of  parametric cost modeling techniques and methodologies

Come and see us in May 2008 in Noordwijk, The Netherlands

 

TRAINING

 

 

The SMaP association holds conferences on project management.