Simplify everything!

Design to cost and value

DESIGN TO COST AND VALUE

Design to Cost and Value is an agile approach for product and service design that targets both the reinvention of Customer Value and radical gains in competitiveness.

A synthesis of Design to Value and Design to Cost, it also integrates the requirements of standardisation and modularity to aim for the most attractive and competitive response to the diverse expectations of the markets.

It combines all the skills in a pragmatic and very direct teamwork, which gives a new dynamic and transforms the way the company operates.

Do today what everyone else will do tomorrow.

Jean COCTEAU

The challenges of Design to Cost and Value

As everyone in the industrial world knows, development projects today are both TO COST and TO VALUE.

Achieving competitive costs is more vital than ever
in the face of increasing global competition
The reinvention of Customer Value has become imperative
It is necessary to surprise, to stand out and to transform the user experience but also to integrate increased constraints:
environmental protection, energy saving, safety…
Standardisation is proving to be an essential lever:
In both development and production, it offers greater competitiveness, attractiveness and quality of service.

Many other requirements are in addition to this squaring of the circle:
Accelerate projects, shorten deadlines, think in terms of services and not just products, secure supply sources, transform the culture and working methods, drive innovation and competitiveness in all minds and at all levels…

A global approach…

Design to Cost and Value aims to achieve all these objectives at the same time.
Neither a miracle method nor a new gadget, it is a synthesis of the best in competitive design:
Design to Cost, Design to Value and Modular design.

DtC&V shares its fundamentals with other development methods.
It has much in common with agile methods:

The concern to place the customer/user at the heart of the thinking
Continuous communication and smooth teamwork, rather than sequential mode,
Short loops rather than a linear approach,
The search for minimalism and simplicity.

Like Creative Design or Design Thinking, it focuses on people, creativity and the early and rapid evaluation of concepts.
Unlike “old-fashioned” Value Analysis, it does not get lost in the heaviness and piling up of theoretical tools but focuses on the essentials.

… adapted to the development of systems

The development of a product, a machine or an industrial plant is not like the development of software:
It is about exploring the concepts, technologies, architectures, processes, supply chains… that make up the whole reality of a project.
Rather than a series of “sprints” and “scrums”, the development process should be paced by a structured approach, alternating strong exchanges and shared observations, with parallel investigations by the skills involved.

Concrete and intense, the Design to Cost and Value approach opens up a wide range of possibilities before rapidly converging on the best compromises :

The diagnosis detects early the key levers on and lays the foundations for the project:

the needs analysis explores the customer value and drafts a flexible specification at the beginning of the project, without neglecting the diversity of expectations,
the flash benchmarking explores the best of what is currently available on the markets
the critical analysis of the cost chain detects simplification potentials.

Creativity deals with the multiple facets of the project to invent customer value AND simplify.

The pace of solution finding and evaluation/experimentation is narrowing the range of choices, with full visibility of the issues of need, cost and risk.

The team works together to converge on the best compromises for the whole offer.

The pleasure of teamwork

Culture shock and divergent views are not inevitable.
Design to Cost and Value brings together all of the expertise in a decompartmentalised way, in order to converge towards a common objective.

Because it is based on open exchanges throughout the project,
because it allows complementary skills to express themselves,
because it moves at an intense pace towards a shared goal…

The DtC&V cultivates the pleasure of teamwork, makes the project dynamic, and changes the way the company operates in a very real way.

Why implement Design to Cost and value?

To break down the barriers:

we need to get out of the habits and excesses of conservatism that too often penalise projects.

Because it’s fast:

The approach can shed light on the best levers of competitiveness and customer value in a short space of time.
It also applies in emergencies, when the situation is critical and it is vital to get out.

Because it works everywhere:

The approach has proven its effectiveness in all sectors and contexts: Products, services, installations… on catalogue or on tender, in B2B or B2C…

Because it is extremely profitable:

The radical gains generated by Design to Cost and Value are usually achieved without heavy investment.

How to make the Design to Cost and Value successful?

Choosing the ight topic:

This is quite easy, it is strategic, federative and at the heart of the company’s concerns. A first pilot rcase allows to benefit early on from demonstrative results that will boost the momentum.

An ambitious target:

Breaking with the usual gains and clearly expressed by the management, it will contribute to overcoming habits.

The right provider!

An external specialist is a major asset for the successful implementation of Design to Cost and Value.
Dynamic and experienced, good DtC&V facilitators know how to get involved with the teams to put the project at the heart of their thinking, thanks to an effective methodology.

Spectacular results

The benefits of Design to Cost and Value are high and often surprising:

Création de nouveaux concepts transformant l’expérience utilisateur ou les bénéfices client

Creation of new concepts that transform the user experience or customer benefits
Radical reduction of direct costs on new and existing products
Conquering new markets or securing market share in the face of new threats
Simplification of innovative concepts, made economically viable while retaining customer value
Winning tenders in highly competitive sectors, in the country and abroad
Clarification of innovation projects, avoiding getting bogged down or lost in the wrong directions
Saving of development time, with smooth operation and reduced iterations
And above all, the impetus for change, thanks to a collegial approach and strengthened team cohesion.

Frédéric HAUSWALD – Director of Technical & Engineering Division – VEOLIA JAPAN

«Improving cost competiveness is becoming a major challenge for our company, and Arolys have taught us a very pragmatic and efficient approach to optimise our design so as to reduce costs, while maintaining the performance of the plants we are delivering to our Clients. We have applied this methodology to one of our on-going projects and we were pleasantly surprised by the results. ».

Mylène LEVAVASSEUR – Technical Studies and Projects Engineer – VEOLIA

«The involvement of people from outside the company like Arolys is very positive for an approach like Design to Cost. The participative workshops forced us to question our habits and to challenge ourselves in order to identify potential gains and levers for improvement. Thank you for all your work, your professionalism and your human qualities.».

Gaël BIRON – Project manager – VEOLIA OTV

“The DTC&V method developed by Arolys proved to be very suitable for identifying savings opportunities. The quality of the facilitation allowed the participants to work very efficiently and in a pleasant atmosphere.”

Peggy DEUSCHT – Site Director Centre of Excellence France – CONDUCTIX

” Arolys’ support was a real success because the approach is extremely pragmatic and concrete. It is a field support that is as close as possible to the teams, which gives a rhythm and a permanent adjustment to our needs. Beyond the results on the equipment itself, this approach has brought the teams closer together… it’s almost like team building! “

Silvere JAMAIN – Product Line Manager – SOMFY

” Great animation, bravo to the animator because it is indeed difficult to align the minds to the guideline.
To be repeated on projects that require it.. “

François CORSO – Design Office Manager – CONDUCTIX

” We appreciated the undeniable methodological contribution on the functional definition and the absolute necessity to judge the levels of flexibilities to define the right need.
The cost breakdown method is simple and pragmatic, which makes it possible to challenge the definition of the product and to imagine new concepts to achieve the cost reduction objectives already in this phase.
A great dynamic was created between the teams during this analysis, which continued during the implementation of the project. “

Benjamin STALDER – Project Manager – CONDUCTIX

” I particularly appreciated this approach which took me out of my purely technical vision. It is global and efficient. It gives a lot of clarity to the management (and obviously to ourselves). “

Pierre BRION – Head of Engines division – SOMFY

” The method is simple and the approach is based on a lot of pragmatism and common sense. Moreover, it allows the experts present to collaborate and to reach a consensus. I have rarely seen an approach of this type bring us to this level of result in such a short time. Bravo AROLYS!”

Denis GALHAUT – Design Office – CONDUCTIX

” A “salutary” performance that highlighted a daily reality. “

Dominique WEGRICH – Industrialisation Technician – PAUL HARTMANN

” It was a complicated process given the company’s requirements, well done for the adaptation and analysis. “

Xavier GOUSSET – Méthodes – ALDES

” The fact of having an external facilitator (Arolys) obliges us to reformulate our needs without taboos. This is to ensure that they are understood by the whole project group, including Arolys (role of candide). As Arolys has a timetable to respect, it forces us to make quick decisions to enable the synthesis at the end of the process. “

Nicolas TORTIGUE – Purchasing Manager – LAPEYRE

” Good service. Listening to the participants. “

Alain DOUX – Cost estimates – THALES

” A clear, constructive approach to identifying gains and distinguishing between what is required by the customer, what is just necessary and what is negotiable. “

Pierrick LAMOUR – PDA ACP – thales

” You get the feeling that arolys is not new to the business, which is good, because they know their stuff and can point you in the right direction. But on certain points, the specificity of certain requests can be a problem. But overall, the approach and the team are good. “

Gordon SANDERSON – PRODUCT ARCHITECT – THALES

” A good approach, but the main final deposits were more or less already known. However, this leads us to question the value of the product’s capacities. “

François CORSO – Responsable Business Unit – CONDUCTIX

” AROLYS’ support approach covered a “traditional” component of their business, and a more project-planification aspect. The support we provided enabled them to rapidly build a basic roadmap for the rest of the operation. “

Marc LE PERSON – Cost Unit – THALES

” A simple/direct/quick method combined with effective animation produced credible results. “

Raphaël MEILLE – Industrialisation Cost Engineer – THALES

” An approach that allows all project stakeholders to be brought to the table (unfortunately this is becoming increasingly rare) and to effectively challenge all the components / stages in the construction of the RC cost of a product, with moderation of the stakeholders in virtually real time. “