Resources
Here we share insightful and up to date resources, revolving around Cost, Acquisition, Economic, Business, and Decision Analysis.
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 6.]
By Daniel Harper
May 12, 2023
Megaprojects have been growing larger globally and many of them have recently centered on the Arab Gulf Region. Construction software company 1Build estimates that before the end of the decade, the world will see the first construction megaproject with a cost estimation exceeding $1 trillion. Right now, there are several projects underway that exceed the size of $100 billion - despite the fact that $10 billion construction proposals were considered to be megaproject just some years ago. Out of all nine ongoing megaprojects identified by 1Build, International Construction Magazine and Construction Review to cost $100 billion or more, four were being built in Arab Gulf States. This includes the ambitious project of Neom City, actually a collection of futuristic towns and cities which are being built in Northwestern Saudi Arabia and are expected to house 450,000 people by 2026. One of the developments, The Line, has received the most attention for being planned as a completely enclosed
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 5.]
By Daniel Harper
May 3, 2023
[Hat Tip: Shauna Weatherly via LinkedIn]: Late last week, the United States Department of Defense released the Defense Contract Finance Study (April 2023). The report was initiated in 2019 after GAO recommended DoD assess its policies and the effect on the defense industry at large; such an assessment had not been done since 1985. Major findings related to small businesses are: -- Defense subcontractors and suppliers generally do not receive the same favorable cash flow benefits as Defense prime contractors. This is extremely important since GAO estimates that 60-70% of the defense work performed is done by subcontractors (GAO 11-61r). -- DFAS average from receipt of invoice to payment was 12.6 days, regardless of business size (4/2020-7/2022). -- Actual payment from prime to supplier was on average 34.4 days, and as long as 126 days (81 days late). -- Defense subcontractors report delays in payments from DoD prime contractors at a higher level than in the private sector.
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 4.]
By Daniel Harper
April 19, 2023
Cost and Acquisition News
GAO: Weapon System Sustainment: The Army and Air Force Conducted Reviews and the Army Identified Operating and Support Cost Growth
DOD spends billions of dollars a year to operate and maintain its weapon systems—such as aircraft or ships—to ensure it can meet the military's needs today and in the future. These "sustainment" costs—expenses for repairs, for example—account for approximately 70% of a weapon system's total cost. DOD reports to Congress on these costs annually. We looked at DOD's FY 2021 sustainment reviews and found that:
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 3.]
By Daniel Harper
April 5, 2023
“Today we’re talking about the well-proportioned cost estimator, let’s call them the Vetruvian estimator. But it’s not what you think.”
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 2.]
By Daniel Harper
March 29, 2023
5 Skills to be a Procurement Champion
(Part 1: Will robots take your acquisition job away?)
This is so great. Enjoy this HILARIOUS AND educational video by ASI Education. ASI Education is the educational arm of ASI Government, LLC in partnership with The Acquisition Innovation Group, LLC.
Sometimes you feel like you’re lost in the desert…but you’re not alone.
You've got the CAMEL!
The Cost, Acquisition, Manufacturing and
Estimating Log [The CAMEL Season 2, Episode 1.]
By Daniel Harper
March 16, 2023
Cost Driver Periodic Table
By Dale Shermon
The go to tool for cost engineers is the spreadsheet. We love to design, develop, and test cost models implemented in Microsoft Excel. However, the issue with spreadsheets is making them reactive to changing projects; they tend to be static, rather than dynamic. In the modern world assumptions change quickly, or assumptions made change to become known data. This means that our cost estimates need to react quickly. If the design has become heavier, what is the cost impact? As the solution requires more source lines of code, what happens to the development hours? What are the cost driver or variables used in your cost models? Do you have them all? Have you missed any?