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Description

Value Analysis: Mapping Functions, Costing Them and Making Trade-Offs

Reduce product cost by working back from the functions users expect rather than shaving off components

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Intermediate
  • Up to 6 participants

A product costs too much and the first reaction is to renegotiate with suppliers or delete a part. The savings remain modest and often degrade the way the product is used. The question rarely asked is which functions the user genuinely expects and what each one actually costs. Without that perspective, design and industrialisation teams argue over trade-offs that have never been properly documented.

This short-format programme takes participants through the value analysis method applied to product design. It builds the ability to express a need in terms of functions, to allocate costs function by function and to develop alternative solutions that are genuinely comparable.

Learning objectives

  • Express a need in the form of service functions and constraint functions
  • Rank functions according to their importance to the user
  • Allocate product cost by function rather than by component
  • Develop and compare alternative technical solutions at equivalent function
  • Defend a design trade-off before a project steering committee

What makes this programme different

Cost allocation by function is built on a product brought in by the group
Redundant functions inherited from previous versions are explicitly hunted down
The method is applied both to a redesign and to an entirely new product

Programme

1Expressing the need in functions

Moving away from the language of components

  • Distinguishing service functions from constraint functions
  • Formulating a function without presupposing the technical solution
  • Gathering user expectations and the requirements applicable to the product
  • Ranking and weighting the selected functions

2Putting a figure on value

Knowing what each function costs

  • Rebuilding the full cost of the product
  • Allocating costs to the identified functions
  • Spotting gaps between the cost of a function and the importance the user attaches to it
  • Detecting over-specified functions and functions with no real use

3Designing and deciding

Alternatives that are comparable and defensible

  • Searching for solutions function by function with structured creativity
  • Assessing solutions against cost, performance and manufacturing feasibility
  • Effects on procurement, manufacturing and after-sales service
  • Presenting the trade-off to the project steering committee

Who is it for

Design office engineers and technicians together with methods managers, project buyers and quality managers involved in product design.

Prerequisites

Involvement in product design or industrialisation projects.

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.