Cost Data

About Cost Data

Cost Data includes all of the costs that an Asset or Group of Assets will incur throughout the life span of an asset. It is essential that all Cost Data is collected before and throughout the LCC Analyses to maximize reliability and accuracy.

Example

For example, if the asset is a fleet of service vehicles, you would want to collect the following types of Cost Data:

  • Maintenance Costs
  • Replacement Parts
  • Energy Costs
  • Driver Costs

By collecting all of the above Cost Data, you can create an analysis to maintain, track, and predict costs throughout the lifespan of the fleet of service vehicles.

About Operating Costs

Blank Rows

Blank rows provide the option to add costs to the grid and apply them the applicable period(s).

Known Interval/Cost

Known interval cost data provides the ability for you to track the ongoing costs that occur on a regular basis.

For example, a fleet of trucks have their air filters changed every 6 months. Air filter maintenance can be logged in the cost data grid by adding a Known Interval/cost and continued every 6 months for the life of the truck.

Distributed Costs

Distributed costs can be added where the user has the option to specify the distribution type and distribution parameters. The application of these costs will distribute the mean cost over all periods within the scenario based upon the shape of the distribution that was specified.

In a scenario with 10 yearly periods, where the user elects to apply a distributed cost with the following parameters:

  • Mean Cost: 50000
  • Distribution Type Weibull
  • Beta: 1.25
  • Eta: 72 (months)
  • Gamma: 0

The costs would be applied as follows:

PeriodCost
Period 15051
Period 26137
Period 35975
Period 45463
Period 54823
Period 64158
Period 73521
Period 82940
Period 92425
Period 101981

About Import Cost Data

In LCC, you are able to import cost data from sources including Work Histories, Strategy Actions, Production Events, and Datasets. Importing cost data in various forms allows you to evaluate the Total Cost of Ownership for an asset with all of the information in the Cost Data grid.

Possible Cost Data you may want to import:

  • Equipment Failures.
  • Shutdowns and Slowdowns + Maintenance actions.
  • Insurance costs.
  • Fuel/Energy usage.

Access a Cost Data Grid

Before You Begin

Procedure

  1. Access a Scenario.
  2. Select Cost Data.
    The Cost Data section appears, displaying the Cost Data grid.
    Note: The unit displayed in grid heading (i.e., quarters, months, or years) is based on the Analysis Period Unit that you selected when you created the analysis.

Create a Resource

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
  2. In the cell for the Cost Element to which you want to add a resource, select , and then select Add a New Resource.

    The Create a New Resource window appears.

  3. As needed, enter values in the available fields, and then select Next.
    The Apply Resource section appears.

  4. Enter values in the Quantity, Consumption Unit, Period Usage, and Periods boxes, and then select Finish.
    The new resource is added.

Add an Existing Resource

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
  2. In the cell for the Cost Element to which you want to add a resource, select , and then select Add Existing Resource.
    The Select Resources section appears.

  3. Beside each resource that you want to add, select the check box, and then select Next.
    The selected resources appear in the Apply Resource section.
  4. Enter values in the Quantity, Consumption Unit, Period Usage, and Periods boxes.
    If you want to add another resource, select .
  5. Select Finish.
    The selected resources are added.

Create a Secondary Element in the Cost Data Grid

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
  2. In the primary element cell, select .

    The Add Secondary Element window appears.

  3. If you want to add an element that is listed in the hierarchy:
    1. Beside the Asset Hierarchy ID box, select .

      The Hierarchy window appears.

    2. Navigate to and select an Asset, and then select Done.
    3. Enter values in the Secondary Element and Quantity boxes.
      Note: Quantity, which has a default of 1, is used as a multiplier. For example, if the quantity is equal to 10, all of the operating and capital costs are multiplied by 10.
    4. On the Add Secondary Element window, select OK.

    -or-

    If you want to add an element that is not listed in the hierarchy:

    1. Enter values in the Secondary Element and Quantity boxes, and then select OK.
      Important: When adding an asset not listed in the hierarchy, the import features may not have the context needed to function and will return null results.

    The secondary element appears in the Cost Data grid.

Copy a Secondary Element

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid that contains at least one secondary element.
  2. Select the row that contains the secondary element that you want to copy.

    The selected row is highlighted.

  3. In the upper-right corner of the Cost Data section, select .

    The Copy selected item? dialog box appears, asking you to confirm that you want to copy the selected secondary element.

  4. Select Yes.

    The copied secondary element appears in the Cost Data grid and in the Details subsection of the Scenario Definition section.

    Note: The quantity of the new secondary element will be set to 1, regardless of the quantity of the secondary element you copied. The asset associated with the original secondary element will be removed.

Create Operating Costs Manually

Procedure

  • Create a Blank Row
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Blank Row.
      A new row appears.

    3. In the new row, enter values in the cells.
  • Create a Known Interval/Cost
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Known Interval/Cost.
      The Add Known Interval Cost window appears.

    3. Enter values in the Cost Name, Cost, Interval, Interval Unit, Start Date boxes.
    4. Select OK.
      The Known Interval Cost is added in a new row in the Cost Data grid according to the interval within the analysis period row or column.
  • Create a Distributed Cost
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Distributed Cost.
      The Add Distributed Cost window appears.

    3. As needed, modify the Cost Name, Mean Cost, Interval Unit, Interval Distribution Type, Beta, Eta, and Gamma boxes, and then select OK.
      Based on the Interval Distribution Type selection, the Distributed Cost is added in a new row to the Cost Data grid.

Import Cost Data

About This Task

Important: To execute this procedure, membership in Security Groups additional to those normally associated with this module is required. For more information, please see the Security Groups topic.

Procedure

  • Import Work History
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the element section to which you want to add cost data, in the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Import Data.

      The Import Operating Cost Data window appears.

    3. Depending on the type of source that you want to import, select the Work History, Strategy Action, Production Event, or Dataset check box.
    4. Select Next.
      Based on the assets associated with the element, a list of work history events and their associated event types and costs appears.

    5. Select the work history events that you want to import, and then select Next.
      The Data Mapping section appears.

    6. In the Start Date and End Date boxes, select dates to set the Review Period for the events you are importing, then select Next.
      A list of the costs that you are importing appears.

    7. Depending on how you want the data to be displayed in the grid, select Individual Costs or Group costs and sum total.
      If Individual Costs is selected, then each selected event will add a new row to the Cost Data grid. If Group costs and sum total is selected, then all selected action costs are summed by year number and inserted into grid as one row.
    8. Select Finish.
      The selected cost data is imported to the Cost Data grid and repeated every review period until the end of the analysis with cost inflation applied.
  • Import Strategy Action Costs
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the element section to which you want to add cost data, in the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Import Data.

      The Import Operating Cost Data window appears.

    3. Depending on the type of source that you want to import, select the Work History, Strategy Action, Production Event, or Dataset check box.
    4. Select Next.
      A list of Strategy Actions related to the asset or asset group selected in the primary or secondary element appears.

    5. Beside each Strategy Action that you want to import, select the check box, and then select Next
      The Strategy Actions associated with the asset will only appear in the list if the strategy is currently active.
      The Confirmation screen appears displaying the list of Strategy Actions that you selected and their associated costs.

    6. Select Individual Costs or Group costs and sum total, depending on how you want the data to be displayed in the grid.
      If Individual Costs is selected, each selected action will add a new row to the cost grid. If Group costs and sum total is selected, all selected action costs are summed by year number and inserted into grid as one row.
    7. Select Finish.
      The selected cost data is imported to the Cost Data grid.
  • Import Production Event Costs
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the element section to which you want to add cost data, in the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Import Data.

      The Import Operating Cost Data window appears.

    3. Depending on the type of source that you want to import, select the Work History, Strategy Action, Production Event, or Dataset check box.
    4. Select Next.
      A list of Production Events appears based on the event, where the causing asset has been associated with either primary or secondary elements.

    5. Beside each Production Event that you want to import, select the check box, and then select Next.
      The Data Mapping section appears.

    6. Enter values in the Cost ID, Cost, Date, Start Date, and End Date boxes, and then select Next.
      The Date selection in the Data Mapping subsection determines whether repeat events are based on the Start Date or End Date of the source event. The Start Date and End Date fields in the Review Period subsection define the frequency of the repeat events.
    7. Select Individual Costs or Group costs and sum total, depending on how you want the data to be displayed in the grid, and then select Finish.
      If Individual Costs is selected, each selected action will add a new row to the cost grid. If Group costs and sum total is selected, all selected action costs are summed by year number and inserted into grid as one row.
      The selected cost data is imported to the Cost Data grid and repeated every review period until the end of the analysis with cost inflation applied.
  • Import a Dataset
    1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    2. In the element section to which you want to add cost data, in the Operating Cost cell, select , and then select Import Data.

      The Import Operating Cost Data window appears.

    3. Depending on the type of source that you want to import, select the Work History, Strategy Action, Production Event, or Dataset check box.
    4. Select Browse.
      The Select a Dataset from the catalog window appears.

    5. Navigate to and select the data that you want to import.
    6. Select Open.
      The dataset link is automatically populated in the Dataset box.
    7. Select Next.
      Data from the the selected dataset is displayed.

    8. Select the data that that you want to insert into the Cost Data grid.
    9. Select Next.
      The Data Mapping section appears.
    10. Enter the Cost ID, Cost, Date, Start Date, and End Date values.
      The difference between the Date value in each row and the Start Date entered in step 10 will determine the period number of each row. For example, if year number is 5, then the current cost will be populated in the Year 5 column. The Review Period Start Date must precede the date of the first imported cost. The Review Period End Date must follow the date of the most recent imported cost.
    11. Select Next.
      A list of costs that you are importing appears.
    12. Depending on how you want the data to be displayed in the grid, select Individual Costs or Group costs and sum total.
      If Individual Costs is selected, each cost will be inserted into the grid as a new row. If Group costs and sum total is selected, all costs will be combined and only one new row will be inserted into the grid.
    13. Select Finish.
      The selected cost data is imported to the Cost Data grid and repeated every review period until the end of the analysis with cost inflation applied.

Access Calculated Values

About This Task

Calculated Values are available in the Cost Data grid for each scenario and for each period within each scenario. For information on the formulas used to calculate the values, refer to the Rates and Calculations section.

Note: The values appear a whole numbers in the grid. However, the actual value appears when the cell is selected and is what is stored in the database. If a number is too long to fit in the cell, then scientific notation is used.

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
    The Calculated Values row appears at the top of the Cost Data grid with values listed in columns including:
  2. Expand the Calculated Values row.
    The grid and various sub rows containing calculated values appear.

    Sub rows include:

Add Capital Costs to the Cost Data Grid

About This Task

In LCC, you have the ability to add the value or cost of an asset into the calculation using the Capital Cost section of the Cost Data grid. The added capital costs are depreciated according to the method and rate determined in the analysis model. Capital Costs can be added at the Primary and Secondary Element levels.

Initial Values are entered at Year 0 and are not treated as costs or revenue, as they are the value of the element at T0 before the analysis. The total capital cost for an element is the sum of rows underneath it, excluding the initial value row, salvage value row, and depreciated value row.

Capital Costs are added to the depreciated value of the element and the Depreciated Value sum shown in the calculated values for the period. Capital costs and Initial Value are depreciated to the Salvage Value in the period in which the salvage is taken.

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
  2. Expand the Primary Element Name or Secondary Element section.
  3. Expand the Capital Cost section.

  4. Select the cell beside the value that you want to add in the corresponding column.
  5. Enter the value.
  6. Select any other cell.
    Your changes have been saved.
    Note: Sums are displayed in the Sum of Capital Costs row at the top of the Capital Cost section.

Delete Cost Data

Procedure

  1. Access a Cost Data grid.
  2. Select the row containing the data that you want to delete, and then, in the upper-right corner of the section, select Delete.
    A confirmation message appears.
  3. Select Yes.
    The Cost Data has been deleted.