Taxonomy modules contain the heart of a cost model’s logic. They calculate the costs in various categories (such as tooling costs, labor costs, and overhead costs), associated with performing a process or operation. In order to calculate costs, these modules calculate times (such as cycle times), material utilization, and other physical and monetary quantities. The outputs of a taxonomy module are specified in the module’s associated formula table (see Navigating from the Template Graph to the Data for a Given Node), and are presented in aPriori’s Part Details tab.

The Site Cost Model taxonomy file (see Root and Site Cost Model Formulas in the Cost Model Guide) aggregates the costs across processes, for presentation in aPriori’s Cost Summary, Part Details, Investment tabs. Each process or operation aggregates the costs and other physical quantities across its children in the process-operation hierarchy (for example, by using the CSL standard input childOps).

This section includes the following subsections: