New course development in electronic products and systems costanalysis

摘要

This paper presents a new graduate level cost analysis course thathas been taught in the Mechanical Engineering Department at theUniversity of Maryland. The objective of this course is to providestudents with an in-depth understanding of the process of predicting thecost of systems. Elements of traditional engineering economics aremelded with manufacturing process modeling, life cycle cost managementconcepts, and selected concepts from environmental life cycle costassessment to form a practical foundation for predicting the real costof electronic products. Various manufacturing cost analysis methods areincluded in the course: process-flow, parametric, cost-of-ownership, andactivity based costing. The effects of learning curves, datauncertainty, test and rework processes, and defects are considered inconjunction with these methodologies. In addition to manufacturingprocesses, the product life cycle costs associated with design,procurement, manufacturing waste, sustainment, and end-of-life are alsoaddressed. This course uses real life design scenarios from integratedcircuit fabrication, electronic systems assembly, substrate fabrication,and testing at various levels. As a next step in the development ofthese educational materials, we propose to expand the involvement ofindustry in the course and create a set of web-based modules for use inthis course, and as supplements to other courses. In addition, we willexpand the elements the course addressing environmental costs,particularly the concepts of environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA)and design for environment (DFE). Simplified methodologies and metricsthat demonstrate the economic impact environmental issues will beincorporated