Value engineering
Value engineering is a structured way of thinking for the development of innovations, tasks such as projects, products and services. The method is for the development and improvement of products Value Analysis or value analysis called.
The aim is to always achieve the highest possible value / effect and benefit with the least possible use of resources, i.e. systematically optimized results.
Value Engineering / Value Analysis uses a creative, structured, organized thought process about the effect of a task in "functions" and their logical relationships. The result, a so-called effect model or function-logic diagram, serves as a suggestion and starting point for the development of different approaches to how this effect model could be fulfilled. The best are evaluated and optimized, thus providing a comprehensive basis for decision-making and ultimately leading to concrete implementation planning. The systematic development of an impact model to initiate a variety of solution ideas offers enormous advantages over linear thinking processes in advance of concrete planning.
Functions explain what something does, the task, the purpose, what should be achieved - the effect (function expressed by noun + verb, e.g. conveying people).
Value (value / effect) is the benefit to be achieved depending on the resources used.
Engineering stands for developing, planning and designing (Latin: Ingenium - "ingenious invention" or "ingenuity").
Business and industry use value analysis and value management , developed for their needs according to the value engineering method . Architects and planning engineers use value engineering or value planning for buildings and infrastructure, our built environment with complex unique pieces .
Value engineering method
Value engineering is an engineering tool for the development of innovations, constructive or organizational tasks as a preliminary stage of a concrete planning and / or to accompany the planning, especially if there are degrees of freedom and possibilities for variation. This is done in a needs-based application in a creative, structured, organized thought process / engineering about the effect / value of the tasks in functions for the initiation of diverse ideas and the development of possible solutions.
The essential considerations at the beginning of a task are: for whom, who are the stakeholders? what is the point, what should be achieved for this, what effect, what benefit is sought, what expectations, conditions and restrictions are there, how is acceptance achieved? All of this can be formulated in functions. Functions are abstract (noun + verb, e.g. convey people, increase quality). All functions are logically related, they can be developed with the questions “how?” And “why?” Into logical function networks, into the simplest possible function-logic diagrams or impact models, which do not yet provide solutions, but as a basis the development of ideas for Implementation of the task serve.
Costs can be assigned to the functions. The cost of all functions gives the total cost. The allocation of costs to the functions as well as function analyzes result in decisive key functions, cost drivers - savings potential. In this way the task can be represented and optimized in terms of costs in the impact model.
In a creative search for ideas, several possible solutions are developed as to how the impact model can be fulfilled. After evaluation and optimization according to performance / benefit, acceptance and costs, the best are available for selection and thus for decision-making. Only then should concrete implementation planning begin.
With this method, with the draft of the expected effect, a step is taken before the concrete planning of a task, whereby optimized solutions with high performance and acceptance can be achieved in a targeted manner at the lowest possible cost, and incorrect planning or wrong decisions can be largely avoided. The design of the effect in function before a specific planning makes value engineering unique and accurate compared to other planning methods.
The creative development of functions and ideas takes place in a multidisciplinary team in order to use collective intelligence through different perspectives and thus to achieve optimized results and to distribute the responsibility for the solutions over several shoulders.
Value engineering brings about results quickly and in a targeted manner - decision-making bases, holistic solution approaches, variety of ideas, broadening of horizons, impetus for creative engineering, excellence versus average, structured efficient communication between those involved.
Value engineering for buildings and infrastructure
Human civilization today is only made possible by buildings for all areas of life and the associated infrastructure, i.e. our built environment. Optimized planning is therefore of enormous importance for people and resources as well as the design of our future. Every building is a complex, often innovative, unique specimen with decades of existence and high demands in terms of performance / benefit and acceptance . This is usually associated with high costs for construction, operation and maintenance, demolition or renewal, which is why conscientious and error-free planning is of particular importance.
The development and implementation of optimized projects (performance / benefit, acceptance, costs) requires a high degree of intellectual performance, willingness to cooperate, a sense of responsibility and usually the need to create something innovative, sustainable, which can be achieved with the use of Value Engineering method can be excellently supported and secured through the systematic development of optimized solution approaches.
Special requirements for planning
- Sustainability and the time factor play a decisive role in our “built environment” . Sustainable buildings are those that achieve a balanced relationship between resource expenditure and effect / benefit - expediency, functionality, user comfort and acceptance - design requirements, adequate preservation options over the longest possible period. The ability to easily change structures is crucial today. This is best achieved with value engineering.
- There are usually many stakeholders - investors, users, operators, maintainers, directly and indirectly affected, the environment and the environment, etc. with different requirements, needs and wishes that fundamentally influence planning.
- With the planning, construction and operation, a high level of social, economic, ecological, aesthetic and ethical responsibility must be assumed. The needs of people must not be “ignored”.
Benefit from value engineering
- Value engineering provides different perspectives as well as several implementation options from which the most suitable can then be selected.
- Value engineering enables holistic, sustainable planning and a transparent basis for decision-making, thus facilitating the assumption of decision-making responsibility and reducing the risk of decision-making, wrong decisions or incorrect planning.
- Value engineering simplifies the calculability of construction projects.
- Value engineering saves time in planning and execution.
- Value engineering is to be seen as a preliminary stage and accompaniment of the concrete planning and execution and can be used in all phases of project implementation. The greatest success is naturally achieved at the beginning, i.e. when developing the first ideas for an investment.
- Value engineering enables and promotes clarity in the definition of tasks, efficient communication and task coordination as well as conflict and therefore cost reduction.
- Value engineering can legitimize saving or improving changes even during the manufacturing phase. A monetary advantage can arise for both the client and the contractor.
Value Engineering (VE) application
The question of the motive, what should be achieved? From the point of view of investors and users, complex tasks must always be clarified first, as this indicates the direction in which the planning should go. The sense and purpose, the idea, the goal and the image as “superordinate functions” to define the task are to be put at the top. All stakeholders - investors, users, those affected, operators, sustainers and those indirectly affected etc. have requirements, constraints as well as needs, expectations and wishes that may also contradict each other. All of these have an effect in relation to the project through to operation and maintenance and therefore have a function. From this, a function-logic diagram, i.e. an impact model for the initiation of implementation ideas, can be developed that should be accepted and / or welcomed by as many people affected as possible.
The functions are assigned costs. Using a selected, optimized function-logic diagram, a cost-based representation of the project is now possible. The cost allocation to the functions as well as function analyzes result in decisive key functions, cost drivers - savings potential (Pareto rule: 80% of the costs are caused by 20% of the functions). This makes it possible to optimize the impact model, which is then available for the creative search for ideas.
simple example: "our place is suffocating in traffic!" what to do?
EFFECT MODEL in functions Functions-logic - what should be achieved?
Stakeholder/Betroffene/Beteiligte begeistern
Attraktivität steigern
Lebensqualität steigern …. Aufgabe
Verkehr vermindern
Verkehr organisieren
Ortszentrum beleben wie?--> <--warum?
Ambiente verbessern
Kommunikation anregen
Mitgestaltung fördern
Erholung ermöglichen
The question - how can this impact model and its functions be implemented? - lead to a series of ideas for implementation, from which the best can then be selected after their evaluation and revision. The systematic and reliable development of optimized solutions with the lowest possible consumption of resources is the meaning of the value engineering method - the impact model creates a variety of ideas how it could be implemented, this is not left to chance - the best ideas are available for planning and implementation.
The structured value engineering work steps are always flexibly adapted to the respective needs of the project as well as the requirements of the client. The necessary creative work steps should be developed in workshops in a multidisciplinary team (3 - 6 people). Workshops also serve to mobilize, involve and emotionally engage those involved as well as efficient communication.
history
The value engineering method was developed in the USA in the 1940s by Lawrence D. Miles for industry so that products with the necessary functions could be manufactured despite a lack of resources. The method was then also used for problem solving in organizational processes and was further developed by the functions of logic by Charles Bytheway (FAST diagram - Function Analysis Systems Technique) - Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE) founded in 1959. 1996 Foundation of the worldwide organization SAVE International.
Value engineering today in construction
Value engineering is successfully used worldwide for large investments and complex construction projects in the private and public sector. In the United States, public law 104-106 governs the establishment and maintenance of value engineering by government agencies. In the USA, Japan, Scandinavia, VE is mandatory for larger public projects. For the construction industry, ASTM International has issued the E2013-12 and E1699-13 standards.
Value Management (VM) - European standards
Similar goals are pursued with " Value Management - Value Analysis" in the European standards - EN 12973: 2001, EN 16271: 2012. These are management guidelines, primarily intended for industrial production with corresponding management structures and therefore only applicable to a limited extent for the construction industry.
literature
- VDI 2800: Value analysis. Beuth-Verlag, Berlin 2010.
- Marchthaler (2016): Value analysis, value management, value-oriented corporate management: developments and methods. Publishing methodical knowledge
swell
- Charles W. Bytheway: FAST Creativity & Innovation, J. Ross Publishing
- Muthia Kasi 2009: "Function Approach to Transportation Projects - A Value Engineering Guide", iUniverse
- ASTM International:
- E2013 - 12 "Constructing FAST Diagrams and Performing Function Analysis During Value Analysis Study"
- E1699 - 13 "Performing Value Engineering (VE) / Value Analysis (VA) of Projects, Products and Processes"
- European standards:
- EN 12973: 2001 - Value Management,
- EN 16271: 2012 - Value Management - Functional description of the