Value engineering

About: Value engineering is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1231 publications have been published within this topic receiving 10882 citations. The topic is also known as: VE.

Value in Building

Abstract: This PhD thesis with the title “Value in Building” is the final documentation of a threeyear research process in building management. The project is carried out at Department of Production at Aalborg University, and the project can be viewed at www.wandahl.net. The thesis appears as a plurality based on eight published papers plus the main thesis. The main thesis presents a coherent overview as well as literature studies on value and value management. The papers are published during the PhD research period, which has been a naturally way of documenting the research process. The background for this thesis is the increased focus on the lacking productivity development in the building industry, which may have great socioeconomic consequences. Several development initiatives have been initiated to reverse the trend, and an increased focus on production and management concepts likewise. Among others Partnering and Lean Construction have been in focus. Recently, the value concept has emerged in the discussion of the future understanding of the building process, and both Partnering and Lean Construction work more or less implicitly with the value concept. However, no clear perception of the value concept and its relation to the building process has yet surfaced. The present and most dominant perception of the value concept (value paradigm) is the delivery of value to the client organisation in a “value for money” relation. This is what the management concepts of Value Engineering and Value Management stress. Value Management is applied in the initial phases of the building process to capture and communicate the client organisation’s wishes, requirements, and needs. The purpose is to ensure that these wishes, requirements, and needs are contained in the design solution. Value Engineering is applied in the interface between the design phase and the construction phase to optimise the cost of the design solution and to ensure that the design solution is buildable. However another value paradigm exists. It is rooted in a perception of values as human guidelines of right/wrong and good/bad, thus it influences human behaviour and human actions. This value paradigm is used in the concept of Value-Based Management, which actively works on creating common values of the project organisation. This creates a more cooperation-orientated culture, which has shown to be more proactive than traditional management systems like quality, time, finance, etc. In that manner Value-

Calculating photovoltaics' value: a utility perspective

Abstract: A utility's valuation method used for conventional technologies is described and applied to the world's largest photovoltaic plant. The method is modified to enable utilities with no photovoltaics experience to estimate its value to their system. The procedure for continuing with the evaluation if use of photovoltaics passes this initial screening is outlined. >

Cost benefits of building green

Abstract: Not just a building style, sustainable development is a design, construction, and lifestyle philosophy with both tangible and intangible benefits. Benefits from lifecycle cost savings on utility costs and maintenance costs make building green especially attractive to owners, and certain aspects of sustainable design mirror value engineering principles in right-sizing tbe building and systems. Other benefits may be gained by improvements in tbe construction process or improvements made for tbe quality of life of tbe building occupants. The "feel-good" factor or social value is taking the decision to build green out of the economic equation and moving it to tbe principles and values of corporate responsibility. As with most project work, eady decision-making is less costly than late change, and building green is no exception to that rule the eady involvement of professionals with experience in LEED construction is a key factor in a successful green construction project.

Purchasing: No Time for Lone Rangers

Abstract: The objective must shift from cost to competitive advantage Half your purchasing group may need to be replaced Operating at the hub of a supplier network Purchased goods and services can account for 50 to 80 percent of a company's expenditure It is hardly surprising, therefore, that after pricing, reducing purchasing costs is the most powerful way to improve shareholder returns, and that most companies have at some point embarked on a purchasing cost reduction program [ILLUSTRATION FOR EXHIBITS 1 AND 2 OMITTED] What is surprising, however, is that many executives still believe the benefits of better purchasing and supply management (PSM) begin and end with a one-off cost reduction, essentially achieved by telling their purchasing departments to lean on suppliers to cut prices Those executives would do well to think again For, properly managed, PSM can give companies a network of suppliers capable of delivering the technology, knowledge, products, or service quality that will beat competitors, at the same time as securing ongoing cost reductions There are many examples A leading fast-food company cut the number of its suppliers so that it could work closely with the remainder to improve their performance The result has been not only annual cost reductions of 4 to 5 percent over several years, but faster product development and innovative packaging that sees the company now selling its food in unique environment-friendly containers An automotive manufacturer integrated PSM personnel into its product development teams so that sourcing is considered during, not after, development This integration means development teams constantly consider the cost and manufacturing implications of their decisions, and usually enables suppliers to be brought into the development process, lending their own knowledge and skills to improve design and speed up development One development team that collaborated with a supplier to redesign an instrument panel was able to cut the part count by 30 percent, halve the number of assembly steps and materials specifications, and shrink development time from years to months Similar efforts in other areas have enabled the manufacturer to produce two vehicles in the time it takes competitors to turn out one A leading clothing retailer formed close relationships with a small number of suppliers to redesign its supply chain Shipments now arrive at lower cost and up to seven days earlier - a significant advantage over rivals in the fast-moving fashion business And sound PSM management helped a defense company discover that many of its engineers had for years duplicated suppliers' work in areas such as R&D, parts-engineering support, and quality audits The duplication, inevitably costed into the final product, amounted to an unnecessary 7 percent "tax" which, once discovered, was easy to eliminate The company's engineers now take on higher value-added tasks such as value engineering, giving it an edge over competitors that have yet to look for similar overlaps These examples, and our experience of working on PSM improvement programs with more than 250 companies in a range of industries and services, reveal the same simple message: companies must define PSM more broadly if they are to use it to the full as a strategic weapon Indeed, PSM lies at the heart of any successful continuous-improvement program, helping best-practice companies constantly to upgrade their performance at the same time as reducing costs In other words, PSM helps them improve their "spend productivity" (that is, year-on-year cost reductions on goods and services) faster than competitors do Beyond cost reduction The key to successful PSM is to configure and manage supplier networks to emphasize the purchaser's competitive strengths Technical innovation, for example, is vital in information technology Therefore, computer manufacturers must use suppliers to speed up the rate at which they introduce new products …