Functional analysis: identifying gains by function

You have to "redesign" or create a product or system that meets the user's needs. To do this, you have identified and characterized all the service functions and found the corresponding technical functions.

After a search for solutions, you have found all the components and corresponding technological solutions to realize the technical functions.

Each component has a market value and represents a cost. Using a simple correspondence table known as a "transfer matrix", you can calculate the cost of performing a technical function (FT) (see Evaluation of costs by function sheet [FIC 0620] ).

We're now going to think about service functions (SF).

Determine the cost of meeting the user's needs by linking technical functions to service functions (SF).

At this stage, finding the potential gain on each service function (SF) becomes simple.

• What are the principles to be respected?

• On which functions can gains be made?

• What room for manoeuvre do you have to do your best?

The user attaches importance to each function (esteem value), to you :

• to find the value, and therefore the user's maximum expenditure, for each function, known as the "target cost";

• analyze discrepancies between actual costs (quotes or actual production prices) and target costs representative of the users you want to target.

That's part of the value analysis you're talking about.