LCC Scope
You begin an LCC analysis by determining its focus. An LCC analysis can be broad, taking into account any and all cost factors. Or, an LCC analysis can be narrow, taking into account only a particular portion of total system costs such as maintenance cost.
If your focus is on computing the total LCC of a large system, your analysis might be based on the total sum of the costs associated with the following items:
• System planning and concept design cost
• Preliminary system design cost
• Detailed design and development cost
• Production cost
• Maintenance cost
• Disposal cost
The top item in the CBS (cost breakdown structure) can have only child items. Lower level items can have both sibling and child items.
For example, the CBS shown in the following figure has three hierarchical levels.
After defining the CBS for the system, you enter cost equations for each item. You have the ability to use any of the fields in the System file in your cost equations. You also have the ability to use the data in multiple System files to compare the cost effectiveness of various system design alternatives. However, to obtain accurate LCC results, all cost data must be current.