4cost costing software for maximum cost transparency throughout the product life cycle

4cost offers you software solutions that enable you to create consistent cost calculations in all project phases with little effort and high accuracy. When using 4cost costing software, you combine all relevant cost information and standardise the costing methods in your company. The focus is on both product and development costs.

4cost costing software is suitable for determining product costs, development costs, manufacturing costs and software development costs as well as for life cycle costing and calculation of the product carbon footprint.

4cost provides you with the right costing tool for every point in time and every initial situation. From parametric top-down calculations for early phases with limited information to detailed bottom-up calculations – also directly on the CAD model – to multi-dimensional cost forecasts, overhead cost analyses, and calculation of carbon footprints for the entire product life cycle.

Advantages of 4cost costing software

  • High time savings in the preparation of calculations and quotations

  • Standardised calculations that ensure comparability and transparency

  • Optimised processes through fast simulations and analyses

  • Automated reporting and dashboards for secure and accelerated decision-making

  • Cost reduction through identification of cost drivers and their potential savings

  • Minimisation of errors through intelligent input wizards and automatic check routines

  • Cross-departmental use through central availability of all cost information

  • Flexible licensing model and modular structure

  • Personal support & product training

  • Usable in all project phases, regardless of technology and industry

Our software solutions for costing

4cost-aces
4cost-aces

4cost-aces

Calculate manufacturing costs reliably at an early stage

The costing software 4cost-aces enables you to efficiently calculate manufacturing and production costs at an early stage. With 4cost-aces, you can create reliable and time-saving cost calculations for electronic and mechanical components/assemblies as well as for entire systems.

Areas of application: Manufacturing costs, Production costs, Value analysis, Risk analysis, Quotation costing, Target costing, Should cost analysis, purchase price analysis

4cost-aces/Extension
4cost-aces/Extension

4cost-aces/Development

Reliably determine development costs with just a few inputs

4cost-aces/Development is an optional extension module for the costing software 4cost-aces. It enables you to precisely calculate development costs for mechanical and electronic components.

Areas of application: Development costs, Quantity structure, Prototype costs, Design to Cost, Risk analysis

4cost-aces/Extension
4cost-aces/Extension

4cost-aces/LCC

Analyse and optimise lifecycle costs at an early stage

4cost-aces/LCC is an optional extension module for the costing software 4cost-aces. It enables you to perform a comprehensive analysis of the life cycle costs of your products – from development to operation and maintenance to disposal.

Areas of application: Life Cycle Costing (LCC), Total Cost of Ownership, Risk analysis, Spare parts management, Resource management, Logistics analyses, OBC (Outcome Based Contracting)

4cost-aces/Extension
4cost-aces/Extension

4cost-aces/Software

Calculate software development costs efficiently and reliably

4cost-aces/Software is an optional extension module for the costing software 4cost-aces. It offers you a systematic approach to estimating development costs and budget requirements based on quantifiable parameters.

Areas of application: Software development costs, Quotation costing, Should cost analysis, Benchmarking, Risk analysis

4cost-aces/Extension
4cost-aces/Extension

4cost-aces/Sustain

Transparent calculation of the product carbon footprint

4cost-aces/Sustain is an optional extension module for the costing software 4cost-aces. It enables you to calculate the carbon footprint of your products over their entire life cycle.

Areas of application: Manufacturing and production, Transport and logistics, Packaging, Disposal, Certificate compensation

4cost-structure
4cost-structure

4cost-structure

Standardised bottom-up calculations with high comfort and maximum transparency

The costing software 4cost-structure enables you to quickly create consistent, transparent, comprehensible detailed calculations with the highest cost accuracy. Through a company-wide standardisation of costing methods, you optimise your company processes and create a common understanding of costs.

Areas of application: Multi-level overhead costing, Preliminary costing, final costing, Quotation costing, Development-accompanying costing, Design to Cost, Should cost analysis, purchase price analysis, Target costing, Value analysis

4cost-prediction
4cost-prediction

4cost-prediction

Multidimensional regression analyses for precise cost forecasts

The costing software 4cost-prediction enables you to check the adequacy of the costs and prices of products and product groups on the basis of freely selectable parameters. With the software, you can easily and quickly see which specific features of a product affect its costs and price and to what extent. In this way, non-identical products can be compared with the help of benchmarks, cost reduction potentials for individual products can be determined, outliers can be identified and price forecasts for new products are possible.

Areas of application: Linear performance pricing, Non-linear performance pricing, Predictive costing, price forecasting, Should cost analysis, purchase price analysis, Benchmarking, Supplier and procurement price analysis, price structure analysis, Target prices, target costing

Target-performance comparisons

4cost-cadcal
4cost-cadcal

4cost-cadcal

Precise cost calculations directly on the 3D CAD model

With the costing software 4cost-cadcal you calculate costs and production times of components, assemblies and systems directly on the 3D model. The software combines the high performance of a standardised calculation tool with the visualisation options of a CAD application.

Areas of application: Product costing, Development-accompanying costing, Design to Cost, Design for manufacturability, Design for assembly, Value analysis

4cost-scenarioanalyser
4cost-scenarioanalyser

4cost-scenarioanalyser

Overhead cost analyses in seconds with minimal input

The costing software 4cost-scenarioanalyser enables you to map the cost structure of a company very quickly and to compare different scenarios in a very short time.

Areas of application: Parametric overhead cost analyses, Cost centre information, Contribution margin, Deployment scenarios

4cost-datacenter
4cost-datacenter

4cost-datacenter

Company-wide control of the 4cost costing software

4cost-datacenter is the server-side management software for all your 4cost software solutions and your calculation data.

Areas of application: Licence management, Rights management, Database management

4cost Web Edition
4cost Web Edition

4cost Web Edition

Costing Software as a Service

Use all 4cost costing tools conveniently in your browser. Without prior installation.

The 4cost Web Edition offers all the advantages of the classic desktop version, but with more flexibility and greater convenience.

Request a product demonstration

Experience the 4cost costing software live

We would be happy to demonstrate the capabilities of our costing software to you in person.

Request a no-obligation online product demonstration now. Our sales team will contact you shortly.

Our clients report on their success with 4cost

“The comparison of providers revealed, that 4cost achieved the highest score. 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.” Christian Ahrens Team leader of the Value Engineering department, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH “A major advantage of the 4cost software is the seamless interlocking of the two costing approaches, top-down and bottom-up. This appeals to a wide variety of cost estimators and ensures a consistent cost view without losing information across all project phases.” Alexander Nordmeyer Value Engineer, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH “The departments experience made with the costing software from 4cost are very positive and associated with high savings. By increasing transparency in the cost structures, a monetary benefit in the seven-digit range can already be recorded. We have made the right decision in our selection process and are very happy about our success!” Manfred Billes Department head of the EEPC team, MAN “From small start-ups to large corporations, costs must be constantly kept in view and controlled, especially in these difficult times. This succeeds very well with the 4cost software and I believe we can generate real added value for our companies.” Sarah Wörz Officer, Digitalisierungszentrum Ostwürttemberg “The consistent calculation method of the 4cost tools convinced us right from the start. Very quickly we realised, that this methodology supports our needs in calculation, value engineering, purchasing and engineering excellently.” Frank Hoffmann Head of Supply Chain Management, Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH “With 4cost's modern parametric calculation models it is possible to estimate good and valid costs already in phases with limited detail of knowledge. In order to establish this, we not only made use of 4cost's software solutions, but also using their expertise in value engineering.” Senior staff member Purchasing department, Rolls-Royce “The 4cost-aces interface is user-friendly and logically structured, especially when compared to other cost estimation tools. This makes it easier to use the tool even for occasional users.” Thomas Fiedler Head of Cost Architecture A30X, Future Projects & Costing Performance, Airbus Deutschland “We decided on 4cost because we see a significant added value for our calculation and value analysis in a consistent approach from quick cost estimates to detailed calculations. We focus now on the main cost drivers and identify areas with the greatest potential for cost optimization.” Werner Seifried Technical Director, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “With 4cost we have a partner with whom we are implementing our objective of a long-term partnership in the areas of cost estimation, value analysis and cost structure analysis. We will continue to establish 4cost's solutions and use them even more intensively in the future, because the added value is obvious.” Werner Seifried Technical Director, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “With the parametric cost estimate from 4cost-aces, we are fast and reliably in estimating new assemblies and examine scenarios.” “With the 4cost-structure calculation tool, we are tracking target costs and manage our projects, including history and versioning.” Peter Schmidt Value analysis department, Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH (2009) “The partnership-based cooperation with 4cost enables us to arrive at rapid cost estimates for our projects both in-house and directly at our customers site. I would not have expected a calculation of the costs at such an early stage in the product development process with such depth, consideration of variants and meaningfulness of the answers!” Matthias Miesbeck Project engineer, HOLZER Firmengruppe “We were enthusiastic about the speed and cost transparency during the 4cost workshops. We used the results from the workshops as a base for our business case analysis. We froze the cost target as cost reference for the subsequent development process and continuously referenced and checked on them.” Hinrik Weber Head of the optoelectronics business unit, Pepperl+Fuchs “The speed in which the costs are determined is impressive with this method. Elaborate work plans do not have to be predefined and evaluated, because the parametric approach of 4cost-aces is based on material and value-added approaches.” Ernst Tabel Project manager, Pepperl+Fuchs “With 4cost-aces we are able to arrive at valid cost statements very quickly. Compared to a bottom-up calculation that typically takes several weeks, we only need one to three days for the first cost assessment.” Gregor Schwab Head of Orders & Offers, Production, EADS Defence & Security “In addition to the drastic time advantage of this costing method, the workshops have another effect that should not be underestimated: all participants agree on a common costing basis during the meetings and evaluate it in detail. The acceptance of the calculated cost values is very high due to the involvement of all participants.” Gregor Schwab Head of Orders & Offers, Production, EADS Defence & Security “The workshop with the 4cost team was convincing both in terms of methodology and result. We were getting an idea of how the parametric approach of the 4cost-aces costing software works. Many new possibilities could now be approached in our daily work.” Stefan Buchwald Strategic buyer, BARD Engineering “The 4cost solutions enable us to become an extended workbench to the costing departments of companies in our region.” Peter Schmidt Head, Digitalisierungszentrum Ostwürttemberg “The early breakdown of product and project costs with 4cost-aces not only offers us a high level of cost transparency, but in particular shows us optimisation potential for development and design. On the one hand, we are thus able to forecast future manufacturing costs in the case of design changes and on the other hand, to independently check manufacturing costs of already existing designs.” Martin Klotz Product Cost Engineer, Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH “The simplicity and speed of creating and comparing different technical, location and quantity scenarios in 4cost-aces is impressive.” Andreas Müller Senior Operations and Procurement Manager, AutoFlight Europe “Thanks to the workshop with 4cost, we received meaningful and transparent results in a short time, which allows us to take measures at an early stage to secure the profitability of our products.” Andreas Müller Senior Operations and Procurement Manager, AutoFlight Europe “The use of 4cost-aces has led to a considerable improvement in our efficiency, as we calculate up to 75 % faster. Cost calculations that would otherwise take us several weeks to complete are done within a few days with 4cost-aces.” Hanno Pieles Director Business Unit Performance, newboxes “4cost-aces has become a valuable tool for our company because we use it to help our clients increase their cost transparency significantly and take their cost management to the next level.” Hanno Pieles Director Business Unit Performance, newboxes "Parametric costing enables us to create valid calculations in the early quotation phases with relatively little effort." Tim Wiedemann Systems Engineer, MT Aerospace AG “Thanks to 4cost-aces, we can plan and implement our projects more efficiently. The software has established itself as an indispensable tool in our development process and contributes significantly to the success of our projects.” Hannes Büttner Head of Projects & Value Analysis, BAUER Maschinen GmbH “The calculations using parametrics are incredibly fast compared to the bottom-up approach, which allows us to react quickly to new requirements and designs. The design-to-cost process is streamlined and requires fewer resources.” Hannes Büttner Head of Projects & Value Analysis, BAUER Maschinen GmbH “With the introduction of 4cost-aces, we have consistently enhanced our established processes. Following an intensive testing and implementation phase, nearly all cost estimates at MTG are now carried out using 4cost-aces.” Michael Rudius Head of Operations, MTG Marinetechnik GmbH “With 4cost-aces, we can now perform calculations even in areas where we previously had to rely on approximate values—such as for project management, documentation, software, and maintenance costs.” Michael Rudius Head of Operations, MTG Marinetechnik GmbH Rheinmetall MAN digiZ Rolls-Royce Airbus Liebherr Holzer Pepperl+Fuchs EADS BARD AutoFlight Europe GmbH newboxes GmbH MT Aerospace AG BAUER Maschinen GmbH MTG Marinetechnik GmbH
4cost databases

4cost databases

Reliable costing with valid data

The costing software solutions from 4cost include extensive databases that allow you to create reliable, accurate and time-saving price and cost calculations.

4cost software interfaces

4cost software interfaces

Consistent cost data across all systems

The advanced 4cost costing software provides interfaces to Product Data Management (PDM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems.