Informations

Whatever sector you work in

• development and/or manufacturing of parts, equipments, systems

in the procurement department, you must often

1. forecast cost in an independant way
2. estimate whether a proposal is realistic or not
3. compare several proposals, often technically slightly different

in the engineering department, you must often

1. publish  the most likely cost of what you are designing
2. compare the cost of several alternatives

as a Director, you wish to

1. gain productivity in the estimating process
2. obtain objective and homogeneous estimations for the whole company
3. and sometimes get independent cost estimates



 

• software development
  
  1. as a  procurement officer, you must estimate software costs that you order: development, modifications, maintenance in order to establish a technical dialog with your supplier.
  2. as a  seller, you must in the very beginning of the project estimate the development costs in order to be able to present a price
  3. for  internal realizations, you must establish a realistic budget in order to authorize a project

In this domain, whether you are a manager or a conceptor (architect, design department) you must obtain very early   a realistic order of magnitude of the cost for conception, realization and management.

Underground works are very expensive. It is very important to be able to study, in a limited time, many alternatives and to be able to valorize them.

• local communities (city councils etc ...)
  
  You are regularly considering public works realization :  schools, hospitals, assembly rooms, roads, tunnels, etc ... Your first preoccupation is to obtain a realistic order of magnitude for these works. 3f offers several tools
  
  
• teaching in universities

  The cost concept must be taught simultaneously with any technical or management course: competition implies to take into account the "cost" dimension very early in the technical training. Universities and technical schools must make their students sensitive to this aspect that is becoming increasingly important.

  Our  methods of forecating are perfectly adapted to this education: they are based on cost modelization with technical descriptors. Students welcome these methods easily, as they speek a language they are familiar with, whereas price-lists are not part of their culture.

  3f can give this kind of training, advise professors and/or make our estimating tools available to them.

• environment remedial

  Different remedial technics (chemical or nuclear) can be chosen, as a budget estimating system.