Design-to-cost, usually abbreviated DTC, is a systematic approach to controlling the cost of developing and manufacturing a product by treating cost as a design parameter from the start. The central idea is that most of a product's eventual cost is fixed by early design decisions, made in the concept and initiation phases, and that cost removed later is hard to take out. Cost therefore sits beside feature scope and schedule as a third constraint, the three together forming the familiar project triangle, and cost considerations become part of the extended requirements specification. DTC also tries to capture the measures needed to keep costs in check across the whole development cycle. It is closely related to target costing but is less rigid: it does not promise that a product will land on an exact cost, only that cost is weighed in every design activity. It can also be contrasted with design-to-value, which stresses the value delivered to the customer rather than the production cost to the manufacturer.
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In Field
Source Design-to-cost (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. U.S. General Accounting Office: Application of Design-to-Cost Concept to Major Weapon System Acquisitions
U.S. General Accounting OfficeChapter 1, The design-to-cost conceptQuote, Chapter 1, The design-to-cost concept
In 1971, DOD introduced the design-to-cost concept.
2. Design-to-cost (Wikipedia)
Introduction
Design-to-Cost (DTC), as part of cost management techniques, describes a systematic approach to controlling the costs of product development and manufacturing.
In Field: Industrial Engineering, Lead, first sentence
Design-to-Cost (DTC), as part of cost management techniques, describes a systematic approach to controlling the costs of product development and manufacturing.
In Group: Planning and Analysis Methods, Lead paragraph
Design-to-Cost (DTC), as part of cost management techniques, describes a systematic approach to controlling the costs of product development and manufacturing.
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