COST MODELING AS A TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT TOOL

Universally, cost is a key factor in determining the commercial succes s of new technologies. Corporate research laboratories have developed countless technically exciting processes, only to see them put aside b ecause they were too expensive for their targeted markets to bear. Tec hnical cost modeling is a methodology for simulating the cost of devel opmental technologies. It is a useful tool for assisting R&D managemen t, both for the selection of program alternatives and for the identifi cation of ''economic bottlenecks'' within a given technology. Technica l cost modeling takes a science-based, bottoms-up perspective on the c ost of a technology. First-principle theories are coupled with establi shed commercial practices to produce models that are robust, realistic and useful.