Academic literature on the topic 'Cost analysis'

During the last seven years, the total cost for Swedish public transport provision has increased by over 30 percent in real terms according to figures from the government agency Transport Analysis. A similar pattern is found if considering a longer time span. Part of the cost increase can be attributed to an increased supply, and part is due to price increases on input factors that are measured by an industry index produced by the public transport industry. The fact that about half of the costs in Swedish public transport are covered by public funds calls for responsibility in how these funds are used, and this means that information about cost drivers and cost efficiency is necessary. The lack of information about these factors in the Swedish public transport sector is the main motivation for the two papers included in this thesis. In this cover essay, the developments over the last decades in Swedish public transport are described, and there is a focus on the last ten years with the Doubling Project and the market in 2012. As mentioned, the costs as a whole, as well as per unit costs such as cost per vehicle kilometer, have increased in real terms since 2007. Even though parts of the cost increase can be attributed to an increased supply or the price of input factors, this development might be problematic for at least two reasons. First, the ambition of the industry to double the number of travelers by the year 2020 seems to have resulted in a supply increase around year 2010 and a similar increase in the number of boardings. However, the cost per vehicle kilometer and cost per boarding have both increased since then, which can bring into question whether the supply increases have been made at the right places and to the proper extent to have the desired effect on travel. Second, it is not clear whether a price increase for input factors can be viewed as an ``acceptable'' explanation for the cost increase. To the extent that the Public Transport Authority (PTA) or operator can affect the price of input factors such as buses (detailed or environmental requirements, etc.) or labor (demands on take-over of previous staff), an endogenous relationship is possible, which could disguise these potentially cost-driving factors as general price increases. At the end of this essay, a discussion about the lack of publicly available data highlights the non-compliance with EU regulations related to this. More data resources, perhaps with open access, would enable more comparisons between contractual forms, PTAs, and operators, which would provide examples of good and poor solutions and concepts in the industry and would have the potential to ensure better use of public funds. Below is a summary over the two paper included in this licentiate thesis. Papper I - “Costs for Swedish Public Transport Authorities” - uses contract-level data for the year 2012 and econometric methodology to investigate how contract factors affect costs for bus contracts. A theoretical framework is established to show some of the cost mechanisms that are at work in the two most popular contractual forms in Sweden, and the paper provides some insights into what results to expect from the empirical analysis. The most important results from the econometric analysis are that higher population density and a contract being operated by a publicly owned (municipal or county council) operator are both associated with having higher costs. Also, no statistically significant differences could be found when using incentive payments in the contracts. Papper II - “Cost Efficiency in Swedish Public Transport” -has a similar perspective as Paper I, but it uses stochastic frontier analysis to focus on cost efficiency and differences across PTAs. Data for the year 2013 are used, along with other data sources, to derive a cost frontier from which some of the deviations from this can be attributed to cost inefficiencies. The results are similar to those of Paper I, namely that cost efficiency is lower in high-density areas and in contracts that are directly awarded to a publicly owned operator. When comparing the cost efficiency of the PTAs (or counties), most exhibit small differences. The difference between the 1st and 15th-ranked county is only about 8 percent. The difference is somewhat larger when turning to the third and second least efficient counties of Stockholm and Skåne. The least efficient county of Västmanland is about 30 less cost efficient than the 1st-ranked county.<br>De senaste sju åren har de totala kostnaderna för att bedriva kollektivtrafik i Sverige ökat med över 30 procent i reala termer enligt siffror från myndigheten Trafikanalys. Jämförs en längre tidsperiod hittas samma mönster. En del av kostnadsökningen kan förklaras med ett ökat utbud under perioden, och en del med ökade priser på insatsfaktorer vilket kan mätas med ett prisindex sammansatt av kollektivtrafikbranschen. Det faktum att ungefär hälften av kollektivtrafikens kostnader täcks av offentliga medel ställer krav på ett ansvarsfullt utnyttjande, vilket i sin tur kräver information om hur kostnader och kostnadseffektivitet påverkas. Dylik information är begränsad för svensk kollektivtrafik, vilket är den huvudsakliga motiveringen till de två papperen i denna uppsats. I den tillhörande kappan beskrivs de senaste decenniernas utveckling i den svenska kollektivtrafiken, med ett större fokus på de senaste tio åren med branschens fördubblingsprojekt samt marknadsöppningen år 2012. Som nämndes tidigare har kostnaderna som helhet, samt olika typer av styckkostnader såsom kostnad per körd utbudskilometer, ökat i reala termer sedan 2007. Även om delar av kostnadsökningarna kan attribueras till ett ökat utbud eller prisökningar i insatsfaktorer kan utvecklingen ändå vara problematisk av åtminstone två anledningar. För det första verkar branschens ambition att fördubbla resandet till år 2020 ha gett en utbudsökning under åren kring 2010, och en resandeökning något år senare. Vad som är tydligt är dock att både kostnaden per utbudskilometer och passagerare ökat. I ljuset av detta blir det tveksamt om utbudsökningarna skett på rätt ställen. För det andra är det oklart om en prisökning i insatsfaktorerna kan ses som ”acceptabla” anledningar till branschens kostnadsökning. I den mån kollektivtrafikmyndigheter och/eller operatörer kan påverka priset på insatsfaktorer såsom bussar (särkrav, miljökrav etc.) eller personal (personalövertagande etc.) riskerar man ett endogent samband vilket gör att dessa, potentiellt kostnadsdrivande, faktorer lätt kan sorteras bort som allmänna prisökningar. I slutet av kappan förs även en diskussion om den bristande tillgången på offentlig data i svensk kollektivtrafik, och att kollektivtrafikmyndigheterna inte följer uppsatta EU förordningar relaterat till detta. Ett större utbud av data, och helst ett öppet sådant, skulle möjliggöra för mer jämförelser mellan kontrakt, utförare och kollektivtrafikmyndigheter, vilket i förlängningen tydligare skulle kunna påvisa bra och dåliga exempel i branschen och bidra ett bättre resursutnyttjande av skattemedel. Nedan följer en sammanfattning av de två papper som ingår i licentiatuppsatsen. Papper I, “Costs for Swedish Public Transport Authorities”, använder data från år 2012 på kontraktsnivå för att med ekonometriska metoder analysera hur olika kontraktsfaktorer påverkar kostnaderna i busskontrakt. Analysen utgår från en teoretisk modell visar på kostnadsmekanismer i de två vanligaste kontraktstyperna, och som ger några insikter om vilka resultat som kan förväntas från den empiriska analysen. De viktigaste resultaten från den ekonometriska analysen är att kostnaderna är högre om kontraktet körs i ett område med hög befolkningstäthet, eller om operatören av ett kontrakt har en offentlig ägare (kommun eller landsting). Incitamentsersättning till operatören kan inte påvisas ha en statistiskt signifikant påverkan på kostnaderna. Papper II, “Cost Efficiency in Swedish Public Transport” , har en liknande utgångspunkt som Papper I, men använder stokastisk frontanalys för att fokusera på kostnadseffektivitet och skillnader i denna mellan kollektivtrafikmyndigheter. Data från år 2013 används tillsammans med ett antal andra datakällor för att ta fram en kostnadsfront, där vissa avvikelser från denna attribueras som kostnadsineffektivitet. Resultaten påminner om de i Papper I, nämligen att kostnadseffektiviteten är lägre i tätbefolkade områden, samt i kontrakt som direkttilldelas en offentligt ägd operatör. En jämförelse av kollektivtrafikmyndigheternas (länens) kostnadseffektivitet visar att de flesta län inte skiljer sig åt. Skillnaden mellan den mest effektiva och 15e mest effektiva länet är ca 8 procent. Skillnaden är något större till Stockholms och Skåne län, som har tredje respektive näst lägsta kostnadseffektivitet, samt det sist placerade länet, Västmanland, som är cirka 30 procent mer ineffektiv än det bäst placerade.<br><p>QC 20151007</p>

Using geotextiles in secondary roads to stabilize weak subgrades has been a well accepted practice over the past thirty years. However, from an economical point of view, a complete life cycle cost analysis (LCCA), which includes not only costs to agencies but also costs to users, is urgently needed to assess the benefits of using geotextile in secondary road flexible pavement. In this study, a comprehensive life cycle cost analysis framework was developed and used to quantify the initial and the future cost of 25 representative design alternatives. A 50 year analysis cycle was used to compute the cost-effectiveness ratio for the design methods. Four flexible pavement design features were selected to test the degree of influence of the frameâ s variables. The analysis evaluated these variables and examined their impact on the results. The study concludes that the cost effectiveness ratio from the two design methods shows that the lowest cost-effectiveness ratio using Al-Qadiâ s design method is 1.7 and the highest is 3.2. The average is 2.6. For Perkinsâ design method, the lowest value is 1.01 and the highest value is 5.7. The average is 2.1. The study also shows when user costs are considered, the greater TBR value may not result in the most effective life-cycle cost. Hence, for an optimum secondary road flexible pavement design with geotextile incorporated in the system, a life cycle cost analysis that includes user cost must be performed.<br>Master of Science

During the last decades, the production enterprises have gone through a strong global change in terms of shorter product life cycles, fluctuations in the order income and increased demand of customized products. Basically, a company needs to develop appealing products in terms of cost and quality that are brought to the market in timely manner. As many studies show that over 70% of the total life cycle cost of a product is determined at the early design stage, this thesis work are focused on analyzing how the total cost of robot families can be affected in the early design stage through changing the component commonality level. More specifically, a cost estimation model in excel has been built to see how the total costs of robot family IRB 6640 are affected when choosing different gears for joints one, two and three. Also, a more general analysis has been done where it is investigated how ABB can take benefit of a product configuration system integrated with a robot platform and cost estimation model.The result of this study shows that the traditional opinion on “higher commonality means lower costs” is not applicable in all cases. For instance, considering the commonality of gears within a robot family, the optimal solution out of a cost perspective do no longer exists at the highest commonality possible but at a slightly lower commonality level, lying between 0,7&lt;CI&lt;0,9 using the measurement commonality index (CI). This is because the gears tend to be over dimensioned, and thereby more expensive for certain joints when commonality increases. The analysis also shows that fix and variable costs are not linear to each other, which complicates the situation when trying to describe the change of total costs with one commonality index. Consequently, two different commonality indices are needed: CI to describe the fix costs and CIC (component part commonality index) to describe the variable costs.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 1999.<br>Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 152 p. : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-113).

Operations and maintenance (O&amp;M) activities represent a significant share of the expenses during the lifetime of offshore wind farms. When compared to onshore wind farms, O&amp;M costs are increased for the offshore case, as specialized vessels, weather windows and rough conditions mean more failures, downtime (decreasing availability), spare parts, and man-hours.This study comprises an analysis of the available O&amp;M data from a selected offshore wind farm. The results and conclusions from this investigation could then be used to evaluate possible reliability improvements and compare options for the maintenance strategies, as well as to ponder the convenience of warranty periods and O&amp;M agreements between wind farm operators and wind turbine manufacturers or O&amp;M service providers.The life-cycle cost (LCC) concept is utilized in the analysis of the wind farm survey for this thesis. LCC analysis could be the starting point to make decisions regarding specific wind turbine models, as selecting the turbines with the lowest initial cost may not be necessarily the scenario which also costs the least amount of money when taking into consideration the whole life cycle. It may also be a great tool to forecast future operational incomes and expenses of offshore wind farms.

Different cost effective design methods have been developed to reduce the cost of buildings, of which structural optimum design methods and cost effective designs methods using estimating data, are the most common. However, there is no record of the use of cost effective design methods in practice. Consequently, potential benefits of such methods remain untapped. This research evaluated the cost savings through cost effective design methods, identified difficulties involved in their use and examined favourable conditions for the implementation of such methods in design practice. The research aimed at investigating whether or not the opinion among practising designers, (structural engineers and architects) that "cost benefits through cost effective designs are insignificant and methods are not practical" is justified. Previous researchers have developed cost effective design methods, but very little has been done to change the opinion of building designers regarding these methods. A proper evaluation of cost effective design methods and a study of the design process are therefore necessary to gain the attention of designers in practice. The opinion among practising designers is that cost savings through optimum methods are less than 10% of elemental cost and 1% of total building cost. The analysis of cost savings of 22 historical buildings have shown that this is not the case. Optimum design methods using the computer to find the minimum cost from a set of feasible designs were developed for reinforced concrete elements; slabs, beams, columns and independent footing foundations. These optimum methods were applied to the design of 22 historical buildings. More than 10% of elemental cost savings were observed. 2.91% of total building cost can be saved using optimum methods for design of reinforced concrete elements, which is more than 45% of the total design fee of a building. The study proved that for a given building, probabilities of total building cost saving exceeding 1%, 2% and 3% are 0.96, 0.79 and 0.47 respectively. Design and build contracts provide not only a facility but also an incentive, to designers to use cost effective design methods. On the contrary, percentage fee contracts act as a disincentive. Therefore, the legal procedures in design practice, may sometimes serve as obstacles for the use of cost effective design methods. Furthermore, current design practice lacks motivating factors to designers to use cost effective design methods. Therefore building construction industry may need to pay additional fee to get benefits from cost effective design methods.