Product Cost Management Whitepapers

 As discrete manufacturing companies experience increasing price pressure from customers, rising supplier costs, overseas competition, and income growth pressure from investors, they are forced to scrutinize product margins and cost of goods sold (COGS) with renewed vigor. Across a variety of market sectors, COGS can be as high as 70-90% of revenue. The ability to directly reduce COGS presents the opportunity to significantly impact a company’s bottom line. According to a recent industry analyst report in which 150 of the top US manufacturing companies were surveyed, “cost estimation and control” were identified as management’s number one concern.
3/19/2013 - Implementing an Effective Product Cost Management Program (493.68 KB)
The benefits of a systematic product cost management program are significant, yet many manufacturers struggle to implement these initiatives effectively. This paper discusses some of the obstacles involved and outlines key considerations and best practices for initiating an effective product cost management program. It also provides practical guidelines and examples of how to execute them for maximum impact
3/19/2013 - New Product Introductions (NPI) and Target Costs (731.36 KB)
Best-in-class companies are applying effective cost management strategies into the earliest stages of their product design process and collaborating on cost analysis cross functionally. Learn more about aPriori is helping these companies achieve cost target goals on new product initiatives in this whitepaper.
3/19/2013 - What Will My Design Cost to Produce? (1.17 MB)
In the never-ending battle for market-leadership, design engineers play a more significant role than they may realize in determining a company’s success. But, it’s not just about which company has the best product; it’s also about which company does a better job of controlling its product costs. aPriori Product Cost Management can help you understand the cost of your tradeoff decisions without getting in the way. Read this whitepaper to learn more.
3/19/2013 - Are You Overpaying for Outsourced Parts? (1.15 MB)
With few sourcing personnel, complex dynamics and grueling deadline pressures, it is nearly impossible for companies to know if they are paying the best possible price on every one of their outsourced parts. While this deficiency has been tolerated in the past, the constant pressure on corporate performance, combined with increasing material and energy costs, is forcing product companies to pay closer attention to what they are paying external suppliers to make their parts. Fortunately for sourcing experts, an innovative new Product Cost Management software solution from aPriori is making it possible for them to ensure consistently optimal pricing for all their outsourced parts and products. Read this whitepaper to learn more.
3/29/2011 - Aberdeen Product Cost Analytics (251.34 KB)
As the economy heads into a recovery, returning to profitability is top of mind for many companies. This is driving them to look for ways to take cost out of products while still getting products to market on time. Aberdeen's "Using Product Cost Analytics to Keep Engineering on Schedule and on Budget" report examined the experiences of 312 companies to identify best practices for improving decision making.
3/19/2013 - Creating a Profit-Centric Business Culture (2.2 MB)
Product Cost Management is a new category of enterprise-class software designed to help manufacturing organizations increase profit by driving costs out of their products prior to production (reducing Cost of Goods Sold). With aPriori Product Cost Management, companies can significantly improve quality and timeliness of their product cost assessments. Although many companies today lack adequate product cost management capabilities (which determines a firm’s potential to generate more profit), a bigger problem is that firms do not have a corporate-wide focus on increasing overall profit. Without a strong profit ‘culture’ (the will and skill to generate more profit), organizations will fail to reach the potential that product cost management creates. This paper will discuss the foundations for creating a corporate-wide culture of profit.
3/19/2013 - The Anatomy of Product Cost (1.16 MB)
aPriori provides a new solution to an age-old, complex question: "What will my product cost to manufacture?" Today's manufacturers really have no tools available to help them understand all the complex dynamics associated with product cost, until now. aPriori has captured all the complexities of generating a product cost in real-time in a single software solution that is easy to deploy throughout all of your product development and manufacturing organizations to help reduce cost. For more information on the anatomy of product cost, and how aPriori can help you reduce your cost of goods sold, read this whitepaper to learn more.
3/19/2013 - Improving the Quality of Product Cost (2.33 MB)
This whitepaper explores the many facets of what makes a “quality” product cost number, including the different concepts of accuracy, precision, reliability, and understandability. What organizations really need is a product cost number with enough certainty to make the right decisions when the firm has multiple alternatives. aPriori calls this complex idea the Quality of Cost.
3/19/2013 - Reducing Cost of Goods Sold with Product Cost Management (1.06 MB)
An organization’s financial performance is tied directly to its product costs. The discrete manufacturing and product companies that best understand the true economic costs of their products are the companies that will out-perform their competitors. By capturing how much a product costs earlier in the development process, manufacturers are much better equipped to overcome many of the pressures on their businesses, from meeting customers’ price requirements to achieving overall revenue and profit targets. Read more about how aPriori can help reduce your product costs.
3/19/2013 - Controlling the Cost of Tooling in Your Manufacturing Environment (1.7 MB)
Large tooling expenses are a significant capital expense for many discrete manufacturers, especially in automotive, industrial equipment and consumer goods. This paper discusses some of the challenges involved in understanding and managing tooling costs and highlights how aPriori’s product cost management platform can help manufacturers gain greater visibility into those investments to reduce costs, streamline decision-making and accelerate time to market.