Value Engineering

Value Engineering

Value engineering/analysis can be applied to manufacturing processes, capital projects, and administrative processes. In today’s environment of escalating costs, value engineering (VE) is an essential cost control tool for maintaining competitiveness and ensuring the process or project meets the intended function. It is the most effective tool available to achieve the required functions at a minimum cost without sacrificing quality. Money is a precious resource that must be considered as carefully as technical reliability.

The strength of VE comes from the use of function in determining alternatives to issues, the power of the structured team dynamics, and the experience of the team members.

Value Engineering will help your organization by:

  • Validating key decisions
  • Reducing operation and maintenance activities and their costs
  • Improving performance, function, and quality
  • Resolving process, operational, design, and/or construction problems
  • Ensuring that client needs are given top priority throughout the process
  • Improving return on investment

Value Planning

Project owners often evaluate several design concepts for capital projects before selecting a preferred concept. This can leave stakeholders wondering:

  • Is the selected concept the “best” alternative? Was any important consideration missed?
  • Does the concept compromise any functional needs of the project?
  • Were all reasonable alternatives identified for an environmental impact statement?
  • Does the concept satisfy the stated objectives?

Value planning gives owners sound and defensible answers to these questions. It applies the value methodology at the earliest stages of conceptual planning for a program or project. Value planning objectively tests project goals necessary for success. This proven practice is used extensively by industry and government agencies and on capital projects to validate business and economic decisions and to identify alternative approaches for delivering the best project at the lowest cost.

For capital projects, value engineering studies are typically conducted at the 30 to 65 percent level of design. They address technical requirements and provide remarkable cost savings for most projects. However, because many key decisions have already been made, otherwise good value engineering recommendations may not be acceptable at that point in the project.  Significant changes to the concept or design are simply not acceptable given today’s fast-paced delivery schedules. To reduce the potential of these missed opportunities, SVS utilizes value planning to help clients achieve the maximum benefit from the value methodology.

Defining the right project is the foundation of successful project planning and execution. Establishing agreement among stakeholders regarding project goals and priorities, as well as a level of resource commitment, is essential to development of an executable project strategy. SVS’s inclusive, cross-functional value planning approach helps clients quickly and effectively assemble the right people and information to comprehensively assess project needs and build consensus for a negotiated project baseline or change of scope. Once the project plan has been mutually accepted, detailed work can proceed in earnest to develop an efficient design that integrates and balances the triple constraints of scope, cost, and schedule.

Value Based Design Charrettes

Value-Based Design Charrettes, facilitated by a Value Specialist, involve the engineers, stakeholders, and design team at the earliest stages of design.

Using function analysis to create a common understanding of the requirements for the project, the parties work together to develop a concept. This process “jump starts” a project ensuring all functional requirements have been addressed in the design.

Value Program Development

To assist our clients in maximizing the benefits of value engineering/analysis, Strategic Value Solutions is uniquely qualified to help organizations formalize a VE program. Even organizations that are currently doing VE on capital projects benefit from the increased consistency and quality of the VE results. The standards provided with a formalized VE program equate to a higher return on investment, and more consistent application and results.

The SVS team of value professionals are experts in implementing value engineering programs. Programs set up by SVS include the Ontario Ministry of
Transportation, Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, and The Department
of Veterans Affairs.