產品設計者主要的工作即是根據客戶的需求來設計產品。對於產品設計而言，除了本身的功能與特色外，成本與加工時間在設計也是非常重要的考量。縱使設計的決策過程需要考慮個各種關鍵指標，但成本一定是最主要的考量。產品成本的設計會牽涉到整個產品生命週期、產品族裡產品之分類以及不同元件設計變數所引發之成本。為了達到成本估算的精確性及一致性，我們以作業基礎成本為基礎來設計一個成本估算系統來支援產品設計，系統設計包含四個階段：(1)資料收集(2)生產流程建構(3)資源配置(4)成本計算。為了檢視每個階層所引發的成本，我們以產品族的方式來呈現整個產品階層式的成本結構。同時整合了知識庫來支援以作業基礎成本法為基礎的系統設計，以提供成本相關的資訊給產品開發者。

The main task of a product designer is to design the product according to customer required. Beside the function and features of product, the cost and lead time are the important basis variables to make decisions to design. The decisions are usually based on several criteria, but production cost is of primary concern. Estimating the production cost of products involves both estimating the production cost of each product in the family and the costs incurred by components design variables. To estimate these costs consistently and accurately, we propose a production cost estimation system to support product design based on activity-based costing (ABC), which consists of four stages: (1) data collecting, (2) production process constructing, (3) allocating, and (4) cost estimating. To help view the product cost incurred by different level, a product family structure is represented by a hierarchical classification of product cost. It develop a cost estimation system based on ABC method, integrated knowledge resource database to support the method implemented, to provide more relevant economic information for product designer.

Reference
[1] Hedin, G., Ohlsson, L., and McKenna, J. "Product configuration using object oriented grammars," In Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on System Configuration Management (SCM-8), 1439 (1998), 107-126.
[2] Koltai, T., Lozano, S., Guerrero, F., and Onieva, L. “A flexible costing system for flexible manufacturing systems using activity based costing,”International Journal of Production Research, 38 (2000), 1615-1630.
[3] Chen, Y.M. and Tsao, T.H. “A structured methodology for implementing engineering data management,” Robotics and Computer-Intergrated anufacturing, 14 (1998), 275-296.
[4] Rehman, S. and Guenov, M. ”A methodology for modeling manufacturing costs at conceptual design,” Computers and Industrial Engineering, 35 (1998), 623-626.
[5] Park, J. and Simpson, T.W. ”Development of a production cost estimation framework to support product family design,” International Journal of Production Research, 4 (2005), 731-772.
[6] Ben-Arieh, D. and Qian, L. “Activity-based cost management for design and development stage,” International Journal of Production Economics, 83 (2003), 169-183.
[7] Koonce, D., Judd, R., Sormaz, D., and Masel, D.T. “A hierarchical cost estimation tool,” Computers in Industry, 50 (2003), 293-302.
[8] Tornberg, K., Jamsen, M., and Paranko, J. ”Activity-based costing and process modeling for cost-conscious product design: A case study in a manufacturing company,” International Journal of Production Economics, 79 (2002), 75-82.
[9] Layer, A., Brinke, E.T., Houten, F.V., Kals, H., and Haasis, S. “Recent and future trends in cost estimation,” International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 6 (2002), 499-510.
[10] Brinke, E.T., Lutters, E., Streppel, T., and Kals, H. "Cost estimation architecture for integrated cost control based on information management," International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 17 (2004), 534-545.
[11] Shehab, E. and Abdalla, H. "An intelligent knowledge-based system for product cost modeling," The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 19 (2002), 49-65.
[12] Ou-Yang, C. and Cheng, M.C. “Developing a PDM/MRP integration framework to evaluate the influence of engineering change on inventory scrap cost,”The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 22 (2003), 161-174.
[13] L. Leslie, Mary E. and Laurie J., “USING SIMULATION TO BENCHMARK Traditional VS. Activity-based Costing In Product Mix Decisions,”Proceedings of the 1994, Winter Simulation Conference.
[14] Ginny Ooi and Christina Soh, “Developing an Activity-based Costing Approach for System Development and Implementation,” The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2003.
[15] Tamas K., SEBASTIAN L,, Fernando G. and Luis O., ” A flexible costing system for flexible manufacturing systems using activity based costing,” International Journal of Production Research, 2000, VOL. 38, NO. 7, 1615± 1630.
[16] COOPER,R., 1988, The rise of activity-based costing Part two: When do I need an activity-based cost system. Cost Management, Fall, 41± 48; 1989, The rise of activity-based costing Part four: What do activity-based cost system look like. Cost Management, Spring, 38± 49.
[17] DHAVALE, D., 1992, Activity-based costing in cellular manufacturing systems. Industrial Engineering, February, 44± 46.
[18] Brinke and E.T.,“Costing support and cost control in manufacturing: a cost estimation tool applied in the sheet metal domain.”PhD thesis, Universiteit Twente, 2002.
[19] JOHNSON, T.H., 1991, Activity-based management: past, present, and future. The Engineering Economist, 36, 219± 238.
[20] Goel, A., and Chandrasekaran, B.(1989). Case-Based Design: A Task Analysis. In Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Engineering Design, Volume H: Innovative Design, eds. C. Tong and D.SriRam, 165-184. San Diego, Calif.: Academic.
[21] Narasimhan S., Sycara K.P., Navin-Chandra D.(1997) Representation and Synthesis of Non-Monotonic Mechanical Devices in Issues and Applications of Case-Based Reasoning in Design. pp 187.
[22] Poll, C., Fenoglio, F. and Shnnmugasnndaram,“A Knowledge-Based Approach to Design for Manufacturability,” Ph.D. Dissertation, The university of Alabama. S.(1991) Concurrent Engineering (March/April), 31-8. Venkatachalam, A.R.(1990)
[23] Ang, C.L., Luo, M., and Gay, R.K.L., “Development of a knowledge-based manufacturing modeling system based on IDEFO for the metal-cutting industry.” International Journal of Production Economics 34 (3), 267–281.
[24] Aseiedu, Y., Besant, R.W. and Gu, P.,“Simulation-based cost estimation under economic uncertainty using kernel estimators.”International Journal of Production Research 38 (9), 2023–2035.
[25] Cooper, R., Kaplan, R.S., “The Design of Cost Management Systems,”2nd Edition. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
[26] Duverlie, P., Castelain and J.M.,“Cost estimation during design step: parametric method versus case based reasoning method.“ International Journal of Manufacturing Technology 15, 895–906.
[27] Feng, C.X., Kusiak, A., Huang, C.C, 1996.“Cost evaluation in design with form features.” Computer Aided Design 28 (11), 879–885.
[28] Gunasekaran, A. and Sarhadi, M.,“Implementation of activity-based costing in manufacturing.” International Journal of Production Economics 56–57, 231–242.
[29] Kiritsis, D., Neuendorf, K.P. and Xiruchakis, P., “Petri net techniques for process planning cost estimation.” Advances in Engineering Software 30, 375–387.
[30] Lee, P.M., Sullivan and W.G.,“Integrating concurrent engineering and activity-based costing in a knowledge-base support system.” International Journal of Flexible Automation and Integrated Manufacturing 6 (1), 1–28.
[31] Lewis and R.J., “Activity-Based Models for Cost Management Systems.” Quorum Books, Westport, CT.
[32] Luong, L.H.S. and Spedding, T., “An integrated system for process planning and cost estimation in hole making.” International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 10, 411–415.
[33] E. ten Brinke et al. “Cost estimation architecture for integrated cost control based on information management.” COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING, SEPTEMBER 2004, VOL. 17, NO. 6, 534–545