Value Engineering
General Introduction
The Value Method was originally developed by Larry Mills (General Electric) in 1943, and has been highly refined and polished by many professionals over the years. The Value Method is designed to use highly efficient procedures in combination with sound management techniques.  This enables it to achieve maximum performance in the minimum amount of time required.  As an established process with more than 50 years of successful application, the Value Method has been utilized extensively in various projects and endeavours.  Cambridge Solutions Inc. proudly uses this method to provide excellent purchasing, technical and computerized solutions.

Key Characteristics
Several characteristics differentiate the Value Method from other techniques. These ensure that the customer can obtain the type product which they need and want:
•   Value-Based Decision Process
•   Uses Functional Approach
•   Follows a systematic and organized "Job Plan"
•   Directs efforts toward maximum possible alternatives through creative techniques

You may have heard of it

Applications of the Value Method are known by several common names.  Value Engineering (VE), Value Analysis (VA), Value Management (VM), and Value Planning (VP) are some of the most common names used.  These names describe small variations in the general Value Method process in relation to the timing, selection, type of activity, or other specific application. Application of the Method is usually referred to as value studies. Each year companies save billions of dollars in expenditures; improve quality and service while improving customer satisfaction; and increase revenue, market share, and profits.
Success Oriented
Great results are produced by taking the appropriate action at the right time. Unfortunately, this is not such a simple task due to natural organizational and human limitations that can interfere. When an organization or individual encounters difficulties with time, money, expertise, and other resources, the customer’s needs become increasingly overlooked.
The Value Method takes these limitations into account in order to attain successful results for customers. The Value Method has three main characteristics which allow companies to perform optimally in all situations. One must decide to increase personal productivity, acquire skills to accomplish efficiency, and then practice these first-rate techniques. Whether applied by an individual or a team, the Value Method generates valuable benefits.

Key Features

Systematic and organized
The Value Method process uses tested and successful procedures that are directed toward achieving success in meeting the purposes for the "project" by all involved. The process instils "common understanding", generates high production and high performing team activities, reduces the time necessary to obtain a product, and focuses the efforts on the purposes behind the project or activity being studied. A standard "job plan" is used to guide the entire procedure.

Alternatives
The Value Method generates, examines, and refines creative alternatives toward the concept of producing an end product that produces high customer acceptance. This process aims to take advantage of the added expertise brought into the studied activity.

Functions and FAST
One of the most unique and useful qualities of the Value Method is its use of functions to describe the activity or product being studied. The value study breaks a project into components so as to avoid misunderstanding of the planned intents for the project. Then a Functional Analysis is conducted on each component. In the Value Method process, functions are limited to the shortest sentence possible. Just two words are usually allowed: a verb (active preferred) and a noun (measurable preferred). The main functional purpose for the component being studied is the primary function.
Of course, things often happen as a result of the choice of a component, or something must be done to make the selected component work as needed. These functions are called supporting or secondary functions. The results of the functional analysis are placed into a function-logic diagram called a FAST (a short term for Functional Analysis System Technique).

Value
The true value of an activity or product is its relationship to its perceived worth as opposed to its life-cycle costs. In Value Method terms: Value = Worth / Cost. When an item has a Value greater than 1.0, the item is perceived to be a fair or good value. When an item has a Value is less than 1.0, the item is perceived to be a poor value or bad value. When the perceived worth far exceeds the life-cycle cost, we usually consider purchasing the item.

Worth
The worth of a product involves many features. The most common cited are: benefits received, services obtained, satisfaction of the product performance, quality, safety, and convenience. The worth of the product is a measure of what is in it for the customers involved. It is a measure of how well the end product meets the involved essential needs and the added desires of those that have a voice in the product selection or its use.

Life-Cycle Costs
The true cost of an item is not just the amount of money that you pay when you buy it. When you buy something, you also buy its long-term effects. The initial costs plus these long-term costs are called life-cycle costs. This includes the time involved in completing the project, the people needed (number, expertise and so on), the degree of difficulty involved, availability of money or other resources, the amount of maintenance needed, and the money that must be expended and kept in reserve.

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