Press release: Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH

The 4cost software solutions for the creation of valid cost estimates and consistent cost calculations from the early phase onwards are now in use in the Vehicle Systems Division, Business Unit Tactical Vehicles, of Rheinmetall AG. The Value Engineering department uses the 4cost software, for cost analyses and evaluations. With the aim of increasing sustainably and profitability of its products over the entire product life cycle.

Many of industrial and technology companies reach their limits with classic spreadsheets very quickly when creating complex cost calculations. This often results in high susceptibility to errors and a lack of traceability. “To ensure a profitable product cost management it requires a professional costing software that makes fast and valid cost estimates possible,” says Joachim Schöffer, Managing Partner of 4cost GmbH. “With the help and use of 4cost costing tools, our customers are put into the position to standardise their costing methods within the company. A common understanding of costs across departments as well as a high level of cost transparency is assured.”

The necessity to cost control has been recognised by the value engineering team at Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH (RLS) – one of the world’s leading competence centres for tracked and wheeled armoured vehicles, turret systems and NBC reconnaissance systems. “The amount of our cost investigations has increased significantly in recent years. Hence, we were looking for a professional software solution that would enhance the efficiency of our department and speed up the creation of and quality of our value analyses,” says Christian Ahrens, team leader of the Value Engineering department at RLS.

Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH’s process in selecting a suitable solution included a market analysis and inviting various software providers to present their software products. An evaluation matrix was created. “The comparison of providers revealed, that 4cost achieved the highest score,” continues Ahrens. “We were particularly convinced by the fact that 4cost’s solutions can be used for all commodities, regardless of technology. Equally decisive was the enormous speed with which cost estimates are possible despite limited information.”

The applications 4cost-aces for parametric top-down cost estimates in early phases, 4cost-structure for detailed, standardised bottom-up calculations and 4cost-scenarioanalyser for quick overhead cost analyses with few inputs were implemented. “By using the 4cost software, we are able to expand the scope of our cost analyses. Concluding, that valid cost estimates of non-drawing parts and complex assemblies of which only little information is available is also possible,” explains Tobias Bachmann, Value Engineer at Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. Thanks to the 4cost calculation software, it is now also possible to derive and evaluate development costs.

“A major advantage of the 4cost software is the seamless interlocking of the two costing approaches, top-down and bottom-up,” says Alexander Nordmeyer, Value Engineer at Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. “This appeals to a wide variety of cost estimators and ensures a consistent cost view without losing information across all project phases.”

Within Rheinmetall AG, the 4cost’s software solutions are already successfully used for many years in the Weapon, Ammunition and Electronic Solutions divisions.