Estimating and costing in advanced system engineering environments

An organisation may require estimates for a variety of reasons. Accurate and timely estimating enhances competitiveness in business and also promotes an image for the organisation of excellence in business practice. The need to satisfy these requirements quicker and better means that existing skills must be used more efficiently. This can be done by using the power and flexibility of IT. The authors reviews the major limitations in costing and estimating tools and inform the international community of the work being done in this field by the principal directorate of technical costs (PDTC) in the ATMOSPHERE project. This project is part of the second phase of the european strategic programme for research and development in information technology (ESPRIT II). Its purpose is to develop and exploit standardised facilities in support of system engineering environment (ASEE). This will lead to an improvement in both productivity and quality in industrial system engineering