EG7323 Cost Engineering Briefing Guide to Mini Project

Issue 1: 03/02/2022

Author(s): Dr Mukund Janardhanan

Contents
1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
2 The mini-project …………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
2.1 Fit with overall assessment for the module…………………………………………………………………..1
2.2 Project Report Guidelines and Timeline ……………………………………………………………………….1
2.3 Support …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
2.4 Plagiarism………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
3 Project Topics………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
3.1 Study on cost reduction in Electric Car development, production and operation………………….2
3.2 Study on life cycling cost modelling for UAVs (drones) ……………………………………………………2
3.3 Study on costs of remanufacturing based on additive manufacturing ………………………………..3
3.4 Study on Traffic Congestion cost…………………………………………………………………………………3
4 Marking Guidelines……………………………………………………………………………………………….3

1 Introduction

This guide describes the Cost Engineering Mini-project that forms part of the assessment for EG7323
Cost Engineering. This guide contains the background and administrative information you need to
complete the project, but you will need to conduct explorative research and make appropriate
assumptions for the data that will be used.
The mini-project presents brief details of four projects that can be done as part of this assessment.
The project may be changed each year the module is run. The project topics and details for the
current year is given in Section 3. The aim of the project is to produce a detailed cost estimate model
of the considered project/system by considering appropriate data and tools for cost modelling. The
project is deliberately open-ended so there is no single ‘right’ answer and you are expected to use
appropriate realistic assumptions while doing the cost estimate.

2 The mini-project

2.1 Fit with overall assessment for the module

The mini-project is designed to assess learning outcomes of the module that cannot be assessed via
a conventional examination. Overall, it gives you the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of key
cost engineering principles and techniques and how to apply them. You do not have to use every
tool or technique we have covered in the module; you do need to pick the most appropriate of
these. The mini-project is worth 50% of the marks for the module and is marked out of 100 points.
Each document shall be submitted via the Blackboard module site in PDF format. The marking
‘rubric’ for is provided for your reference. Group of six students can be formed and group is
expected to do an in-depth analysis of the given problem and provide with the cost model for the
considered problem.

2.2 Project Report Guidelines and Timeline

You are required to submit a detailed report that should not exceed 8000 words and 25 pages
excluding references and appendix. The report must be written as per the School Technical report
writing guidelines (refer Engineering students page). The report can include the following elements.
 Work Contribution of the team members
 A summary of the problem / objective of the study
 Literature Review
 Cost reduction process / programme followed
 Cost model, validation and estimates
 Cost reduction ideas identified / costed
 Recommended solution/conclusion

You can choose any of the four projects; submit your choice by sending email to
mj251@leicester.ac.uk before 15
th February, 5.00 pm. The groups must submit their final report
(one per group) via Turnitin in Blackboard on or before 1
st April 2022. Marks and feedback will be
released in the first week of May.

2.3 Support

You should use all the learning resources provided for the module, plus any other outside materials
such as journal, conference papers to help with the project. Group project working sessions as well
as discussion time with the module convenor will be scheduled for the groups to ask any questions
you have about the mini-project – but please note that I have to be careful about what advice I can
give in order to be fair to all students. The mini-project is deliberately a bit open-ended because at
Masters Level you need to be developing good judgement about how to solve and provide a detailed
report on the problem considered.

2.4 Plagiarism

Please see the appropriate guidance about plagiarism in you programme handbooks and on the
University website and note that it is not acceptable. The open-ended nature of the projects and
the fact that your modelling parameters and assumptions will be different, I would expect to see
significant variation in the findings and the discussion.

3 Project Topics

The four possible topics for the coursework are given below. The points given are expected to be
explained and discussed in the report.

3.1 Study on cost reduction in Electric Car development, production and operation

• Discuss the reasons why electric cars in the market are still expensive.
• Identify the cost drivers for electric car development, production, operation and disposal
• Utilize the SEER hardware to help in the product cost development and production
estimation.
• Compare product development cost in UK and another country of your choice.
• Use authentic data to validate the cost models and present the schedule of the product
development. Product launch can be planned for 2026.
• Based on the cost factors, conduct the life cycle cost analysis of electric cars in UK.
• Identify the avenues for cost reduction in the electric car development.
• Any assumptions made for SEER modelling must be justified in the report.

3.2 Study on life cycling cost modelling for UAVs (drones)

• As part of this project, your team is expected to work on the costs involved in utilizing
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (drones) for pharmaceutical parcel delivery.
• Identify the challenges and benefits involved in deploying drones for delivery in logistics.
• Impact of use of UAVs on sustainability, costs, and compare with any one mode of delivery
that is used now (IC Engines/Electric vehicles).
• A parametric whole life cost analysis model to identify the key cost drivers of delivery drones
used in logistics.
• A cost breakdown structure (CBS) to identify various cost elements involved in development
and operation of such systems. You may use SEER Hardware for estimating the cost of drone
development.
• Provide a summary of recommendations with respect to costs to be given to stakeholders
of the business.

*You can ignore the government regulations of weight when estimating the cost of the drone
system.

3.3 Study on costs of remanufacturing based on additive manufacturing

 Discuss how additive manufacturing based remanufacturing is critical for future industries
and discuss for which industry you think these methods will be suitable.
 Identify the major cost drivers (all categories) for implementing an effective
remanufacturing process for any automotive component.
 Develop a cost estimation model to evaluate the economic benefit of remanufacturing
 Provide a summary of recommendation to industry on how additive manufacturing must be
incorporated for remanufacturing process.

3.4 Study on Traffic Congestion cost

• As part of the project, you are required to identify at least two sets of traffic lights, ideally
close to the City Centre (this can be any city you live in).
• Identify the road traffic process flow during peak time (you may work with hours of the day
most suitable to you).
• Analyse the amount of time certain vehicles spends at the traffic lights.
• Using government data, establish the cost implication in terms of fuel spent, cost incurred,
CO2 emitted and time lost in traffic (cost model).
• Provide a summary of recommendations that can be given to the local authority to reduce
overall cost due to traffic congestion and traffic management.

*You may use this link to find data regarding traffic count in Leicester if Leicester is your choice
of place : https://roadtraffic.dft.gov.uk/

4 Marking Guidelines

The mark split up of the different expected sections in the report are as follows:
• 10 marks for format -use of template, organization and presentation of the findings
• 30 marks for Introduction and Literature Review
• 30 marks for detailed analysis of Cost Drivers and cost Modelling/ validation
• 30 marks for recommendations for cost reduction to the concerned authorities/
conclusions

*Detailed marking rubric will be made available in Blackboard.