Estimating design effort for GE hydro projects

Effort estimation is an essential process in determining the final cost, as well as the duration of, a future design project. This paper discusses the construction of a parametric model done in collaboration with General Electric (GE) Hydro (GE Hydro is a world leader in the design and construction of generators and turbines for hydro-electric power generation), the purpose being to estimate the effort needed to create designs for hydro-electric generators. An analysis of the data showed that the developed model resulted in a mean relative error of 13% compared to original estimation errors by GE Hydro staff, which averaged 27%. GE has been using the estimation model for its projects since the beginning of the year 2000.