4cost-aces
4cost-aces

4cost-aces

Calculate manufacturing costs reliably at an early stage

What is 4cost-aces?

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.

The innovative parametric cost model of 4cost-aces delivers sound results with just a few inputs and ensures maximum cost transparency. For fast and safe decision-making.

Areas of application

  • Manufacturing costs

  • Production costs

  • Value analysis

  • Risk analysis

  • Quotation costing

  • Target costing

  • Should cost analysis, purchase price analysis

4cost White paper: Parametric cost estimation

Free white paper

Estimate and optimise project and product costs validly at an early stage

In this white paper you will learn:

  • How to achieve maximum transparency in the cost structure of your projects and products

  • How to identify cost drivers early on and realise optimisation potential

  • The advantages of the parametric approach over conventional costing methods

Reliable cost calculations early on

Manufacturing companies that want to remain competitive in the long term need detailed insight into the cost structure of their products as early as possible.

4cost-aces has been specially developed to deliver meaningful analyses quickly and with little input, enabling you to identify potential savings and cost drivers at an early stage.

4cost-aces offers a standardised method for determining costs, which you can use to quickly calculate each product component based on the same five inputs. This saves a lot of time and streamlines your information gathering processes.

AI Depending on the inputs, 4cost-aces automatically adjusts the weighting of the parameters and the corresponding cost functions. This guarantees the perfect interaction of the parameters in a wide variety of industries, technologies and applications.

Thanks to the universal cost functions of 4cost-aces, there is no need to initialise the software beforehand. You can start your first cost calculation immediately after installation.

Get usable results quickly without time-consuming research and modelling in advance. 4cost-aces provides you with a wide range of data on material prices and processing factors. The software also includes numerous pre-modelling options for general and specific components/assemblies.

All supplied databases are regularly updated by 4cost, but can also be adapted to specific company requirements.

The intuitive modular system of 4cost-aces enables you to quickly create comprehensible, flexible project and product structures. The level of detail can be individually adapted to your needs.

You can save all the structures you have created in a central database and reuse them in other projects at any time. This allows you to easily share your expertise with other colleagues and simplifies collaboration.

Focus on what matters most when calculating your costs. 4cost-aces takes care of the rest. For example, the costs for assembly, integration and testing are calculated automatically, so you don’t need to have detailed information or expert knowledge in this area.

If necessary, the integration and testing costs can be edited and calibrated using technology-dependent wizards.

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Experience 4cost-aces live

We would be happy to demonstrate the capabilities of our costing software 4cost-aces 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

Simulate and analyse with just a few clicks

Securing competitive advantages and identifying growth opportunities early on as a company in a global environment requires comprehensive analyses of the profitability of products and projects.

4cost-aces offers a wide range of options for mapping different scenarios in the shortest possible time and evaluating their profitability. All results are processed by the software as required for management and other relevant stakeholders and made available for informed decision-making.

4cost-aces has a powerful report generator that automatically compiles the most important information for you in a clear format. All generated reports can be exported as PDF files. This provides you with meaningful results that management can use to quickly derive measures, identify opportunities and minimise risks.

4cost-aces includes numerous reporting templates, such as ABC analysis for identifying cost drivers. All templates can be adapted to your company’s specific needs if required. Additional customised reports are available on request.

4cost-aces enables you to perform transparent variant analyses that support you in product and process optimisation, reveal opportunities and risks, and form a secure basis for business case decisions, make-or-buy decisions, bid/no-bid decisions, and more.

4cost-aces includes a comprehensive ‘search, replace & calculate’ function that allows you to quickly make any changes to your project in order to examine their impact on the calculation. The cost scenarios generated in this way are compared separately from each other and can be clearly compared and evaluated at a glance using the report function.

Achieve optimum results in your manufacturing processes by mapping and comparing the cost implications of different levels of automation and process quality. This will make your calculations more transparent and create a solid basis for both external negotiations and internal coordination.

The effects of different purchase quantities and varying degrees of automation (batch sizes, quantity effects, manufacturing overheads) can also be fully mapped in 4cost-aces.

AI ‘How much can we save by setting a coarser tolerance class?’ Let the 4cost-aces IndexM Assistant automatically answer your value analysis questions by varying all inputs. The selection of individual optimisation parameters can be customised and saved as a template.

With 4cost-aces, you can take into account the number of production lines, their utilisation and the country of manufacture in the form of individually adjustable variables in your cost calculations.

With just a few clicks, you can transfer projects modelled in 4cost-aces to another country or currency area. The software then determines the location-specific costs using parity and productivity factors. Location scenarios can thus be quickly modelled, comprehensively calculated and transparently compared.

The various location data is maintained twice a year by 4cost. Among other things, 4cost-aces uses data from the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden as a basis.

To ensure consistent planning reliability even when raw material prices fluctuate, 4cost-aces features a central material manager. This allows you to customise material prices and properties and automatically update them in all your existing projects.

4cost-aces helps you to validate supplier purchase prices in a transparent manner by examining purchased parts for their price based on a few parameters. The results generated serve as a basis for argumentation in negotiations with suppliers for a targeted reduction in purchase prices.

Thanks to the seamless integration of our software solutions, you can apply the overhead costs calculated in 4cost-scenarioanalyser directly to the cost calculations created in 4cost-aces. This ensures transparent quotation creation on the sales side and provides a solid basis for negotiations with suppliers.

Error reduction through guided inputs

Complex cost calculations generate a wealth of information over time, which must be processed correctly.

4cost-aces supports you with intelligent wizards for data entry and checks the data for plausibility using various mechanisms. This minimises errors from the outset and greatly reduces your workload.

Modelling in 4cost-aces is carried out using technology-specific inputs. This means that information is always requested in line with the manufacturing process. Data is therefore entered in the individual technical environment, which increases understanding and ensures the traceability of the calculated values.

4cost-aces enables you to determine machining rates and specific raw and finished part weights based on geometry information and material. As part of cost optimisation during development, high machining rates can be counteracted in good time. To do this, you adjust the underlying raw part geometries and processes in the software and view the effects. By comparing variants, you can find the best possible solution for reducing material costs.

AI 4cost-aces automatically checks for inconsistent entries in projects so that you can correct them specifically. This saves you a lot of time during the final check of the cost calculation.

4cost-aces uses stochastic methods (Monte Carlo simulation) to evaluate uncertainties in the assumptions made in your calculation. The resulting improvement in calculation quality ensures a risk-minimised basis for decision-making.

For greater traceability in your costing projects, 4cost-aces offers the option of integrating and displaying PDF documents directly in the project. This means you have all your drawings, notes, data sheets, etc. available on the spot at all times.

Flexible data exchange across all systems

Companies typically use numerous software systems that provide information in different file formats.

4cost-aces supports data exchange with all common and well-known systems. The ability to switch flexibly between top-down and bottom-up calculation approaches is unique worldwide.

All generated data can be transferred back and forth between 4cost-aces and 4cost-structure using drag & drop. Depending on the project status, you can thus fully exploit the advantages of the respective costing model.

This is particularly beneficial for calculations during development, as it combines early phases with little information and late phases with a high level of information. For a consistent cost analysis without any loss of information across all project phases.

AI With 4cost-aces, you can import product structures and key parameters from the STEP files in your CAD application without any detours. The structures are automatically transferred by the software and filled with the corresponding data. This allows you to derive costs directly from the product design.

4cost-aces allows you to import existing product structures and associated parameters, e.g. from Excel files. Templates are available to ensure the smooth import of all data.

All data and results generated in 4cost-aces can be exported as Excel files and thus made available for further processing in other software applications.