Improving Cost Estimating Process in the Aerospace Industry Projects

Abstract

The cost estimation process in the aerospace industry is very important since this process help them to negotiate with the suppliers better offers and optimize the manufacturing process. The process is recent in this industry, and the company has reported an increase of 7% of rejected parts from April to July and 12 potential release which impacted internal and external customers’ satisfaction. By applying lean manufacturing concepts the process was defined using a value stream map, improvements in the process were identified and implemented. With these implementations process time was reduced from an average of 26.16 hours to 20.36 hours. This is a reduction of 22.17% was achieved by identifying value in the process, decreasing inspection time, and eliminating waste. With the help of a form for the analysis approach to harmonize the inspectors’ point of view with the analysts’ rationale reducing the overall analysis documentation by 69.57% as well. Key Terms - Cost Estimation, Lean Manufacturing, Process Time, Value Stream Map.