Value Engineering (in project management)

Value Engineering
Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the "value" of
goods or products and services by using an examination of function.
Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore
be manipulated by either improving the function or reducing the
cost. 
 Concept
Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the “value” of a product
or service that the project produces. It is an integral component of project
quality.  
Value is defined as containing two components, function and cost:
Value = Function / Cost
Function: a measure of the performance capabilities of the product, service, or
project. A function might be to “achieve traffic flow across the river.” In
practice value engineers look at many different functions that the bridge
serves, like accommodating floods, passengers, bicycles, endangered turtles,
emergency vehicles, the sun on the horizon, and anything else that serves in a
functionary capacity.
Cost:  The resources required to achieve the function. This can
include materials, tools, price, time, or anything that is required to achieve the
functional specifications.
• It refers to a systematic approach to improve the value of a project at the
lowest cost.
• It involves using substitute materials and methods that are less expensive
while preserving the functionality of the product.
• Value engineering encourages using alternative methods and materials
that are less expensive and do not lower the functionality of the system,
service, or product.
• Most often, value engineering takes place after the completion of the
design process, but it is best performed before the design is conducted to
allow the experts to incorporate the option of using alternative materials
and methods.
• Most value engineering projects opt for a team approach, where subject
matter experts work together to execute the value methodology.
 History of Value Engineering
• The concept of value engineering started in the 1940s at General Electric
Co. This was during the Second World War when there was a shortage of
raw materials, component parts, and skilled labor. The engineers at
General Electric had to find alternative components and raw materials to
ensure the continuity of the production process.
• Therefore, Lawrence Miles, Harry Erlicher, Jerry Leftow, and other
engineers sourced for acceptable substitutes that would reduce the
production costs without compromising the functionality of the products.
• What started as an accident turned into a systematic process that not
only reduced the cost of production but also provided better final
products or better performance. The engineers named this technique
“value analysis.”
•  
 Applications of Value engineering
• Overall quality and performance
• Work together to reduce cost.
• Latest developments.
• Service function.
• Desired objective.
 Implementation of value engineering
involves several steps
• Information
• Functional analysis
• Creative mind
• Evaluation
• Planning and proposal
• Implementation
• Follow-up
 Advantages of value engineering
• Reduce cost of product
• Most suitable products are manufactured
• It helps employees in better understanding of their jobs
• The constant search for improvement leads to greater all round efficiency
• It helps to generate new concepts and ideas for the R&D work
• It also creates cost consciousness among the employees
• High quality (value) is maintained
Rapid Prototyping
• Prototyping is an essential part of the product
development process. Traditionally, it has
meant long lead times and high costs or
creating makeshift parts on the spot with little
accuracy and a faint resemblance to the actual
product.
 Rapid Prototyping
• Rapid prototyping is the fast fabrication of a
physical part, model or assembly using 
3D computer aided design (CAD). The creation
of the part, model or assembly is usually
completed using additive manufacturing, or
more commonly known as 3D printing.
• Where the design closely matches the
proposed finished product it is said to be a
high fidelity prototype, as opposed to a low
fidelity prototype, where there is a marked
difference between the prototype and the
final product.
 How Does Rapid Prototyping Work?
• Rapid prototyping (RP) includes a variety of
manufacturing technologies, although most utilise
layered additive manufacturing. However, other
technologies used for RP include high-speed
machining, casting, moulding and extruding.
• While additive manufacturing is the most common
rapid prototyping process, other more
conventional processes can also be used to create
prototypes.
• These processes include:
• Subtractive - whereby a block of material is
carved to produce the desired shape using
milling, grinding or turning.
• Compressive - whereby a semi-solid or liquid
material is forced into the desired shape
before being solidified, such as with casting,
compressive sintering or moulding.
 What are the Different Types of Rapid
Prototyping?
• Stereolithography (SLA) or Vat Photopolymerization
• This fast and affordable technique was the first successful method of commercial 3D
printing. It uses a bath of photosensitive liquid which is solidified layer-by-layer using a
computer-controlled ultra violet (UV) light.
• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
• Used for both metal and plastic prototyping, SLS uses a powder bed to build a prototype
one layer at a time using a laser to heat and sinter the powdered material. However, the
strength of the parts is not as good as with SLA, while the surface of the finished product
is usually rough and may require secondary work to finish it.
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) or Material Jetting
• This inexpensive, easy-to-use process can be found in most non-industrial desktop 3D
printers. It uses a spool of thermoplastic filament which is melted inside a printing nozzle
barrel before the resulting liquid plastic is laid down layer-by-layer according to a
computer deposition program. While the early results generally had poor resolution and
were weak, this process is improving rapidly and is fast and cheap, making it ideal for
product development.
• Selective Laser Melting (SLM) or Powder Bed Fusion
• Often known as powder bed fusion, this process is favoured for making high-
strength, complex parts. Selective Laser Melting is frequently used by the
aerospace, automotive, defence and medical industries. This powder bed
based fusion process uses a fine metal powder which is melted in a layer by
layer manner to build either prototype or production parts using a high-
powered laser or electron beam. Common SLM materials used in RP include
titanium, aluminium, stainless steel and cobalt chrome alloys.
• Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) or Sheet Lamination
• This inexpensive process is less sophisticated than SLM or SLS, but it does not
require specially controlled conditions. LOM builds up a series of thin
laminates that have been accurately cut with laser beams or another cutting
device to create the CAD pattern design. Each layer is delivered and bonded
on top of the previous one until the part is complete.
• Digital Light Processing (DLP)
• Similar to SLA, this technique also uses the polymerisation of resins which are cured using
a more conventional light source than with SLA. While faster and cheaper than SLA, DLP
often requires the use of support structures and post-build curing.
• An alternative version of this is Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP), whereby
the part is continuously pulled from a vat, without the use of layers. As the part is pulled
from the vat it crosses a light barrier that alters its configuration to create the desired
cross-sectional pattern on the plastic.
• Binder Jetting
• This technique allows for one or many parts to be printed at one time, although the parts
produced are not as strong as those created using SLS. Binder Jetting uses a powder bed
onto which nozzles spray micro-fine droplets of a liquid to bond the powder particles
together to form a layer of the part.
• Each layer may then compacted by a roller before the next layer of powder is laid down
and the process begins again. When complete the part may be cured in an oven to burn
off the binding agent and fuse the powder into a coherent part.
 Applications
• Product designers use this process for rapid manufacturing
of representative prototype parts. This can aid
visualisation, design and development of the
manufacturing process ahead of mass production.
• Originally, rapid prototyping was used to create parts and
scale models for the automotive industry although it has
since been taken up by a wide range of applications, across
multiple industries such as medical and aerospace.
• Rapid tooling is another application of RP, whereby a part,
such as an injection mould plug or ultrasound sensor
wedge, is made and used as a tool in another process.
 What are the Advantages?
• Being able to gain a more complete picture of how a product will look or perform in the early
stage of the design and manufacturing cycle, allowing changes or improvements to be
implemented earlier in the process. The time this takes can vary from a few days to a number
of months, depending on the methods used.
• RP is a very cost effective way to prototype products as it is an automated process, requiring
less staff to operate. This process is also extremely precise, being able to use computer aided
design (CAD) to help reduce the amount of material wastage and does not require special
tools for prototyping each new product. Being able to act quickly and solve ay problems also
reduces the risk of costly errors during the manufacturing stage.
• Rapid Prototyping helps designers present new concepts to board members, clients or
investors so that they can understand and approve a development or product. This
visualisation can also allows designers to gain ready feedback from customers and clients
based on an actual physical product rather than a concept. 
• As rapid prototyping is an iterative process it allows customer requirements to be
incorporated into designs cost-effectively. The process cuts out the need for customised
products to be designed from scratch while providing greater choice and flexibility for
customers.