| Financial analysis: |  |
| Environmental impact analysis: | --- |
| Waste management/P2: | |
| Environmental cost listing/database: | --- |
| Cost estimation: | --- |
| Alternative product/process comparison: | --- |
| Financial analysis: | |
| Environmental impact analysis: | --- |
| Waste management/P2: | |
| Environmental cost listing/database: | --- |
| Cost estimation: | --- |
| Alternative product/process comparison: | --- |
| Cost control | |
| Resource control | --- |
| Estimating control | --- |
| Schedule control | --- |
| Scope control | --- |
| Risk control | --- |
CTM was developed as a diagnostic technique to identify opportunities to reduce cycle time and costs associated with environmental restoration and waste management. CTM uses a cost-time profile of a process to serve as a basis for analysis. A cost-time profile is a graphic representation of the accumulation of cost over time as a product or service passes through its entire production cycle. CTM has been used at Westinghouse facilities to analyze removal action processes, minimization of hazardous waste streams, RCRA permit processes, construction changes, and CERCLA soil sampling and analysis processes. They report that the technique has been successfully applied and has resulted in savings in time and money.
A cost-time profile illustrates the way costs build up over time as a product or service passes through its entire cycle in a business operation. In the profile, vertical lines represent the cost of materials and services. Horizontal lines are wait times, when no work is being done. Finally, the diagonal lines represent work in dollars per hour. The slope of the line depends on the workers' pay rates and how long the work takes. The profile may reveal hidden relationships or improvement opportunities that may otherwise be missed. The idea is to find ways to shrink the profile by identifying solutions that are the most appropriate and that have the greatest impact. A decrease in the height of the profile comes from reducing costs (increased operating profit), and reducing the time axis results in improved quality (and customer service).
| Raw material acquisition | --- |
| Manufacturing stage | |
| Use/reuse/maintenance | |
| Recycle/waste management | |
The system is not designed to analyze more than one life-cycle stage, and it would typically be the manufacturing or use/reuse stages of the life cycle.
If users have cost and time information related to other life-cycle stages, they use this software as an analysis tool. The information can be analyzed in stages or together. However, this information (especially time factors) can be difficult to obtain.
| Conventional | |
| Potentially hidden | |
| Contingent | --- |
| External | --- |
The system has probably been defined to analyze usual and hidden costs(judging from the projects it has been used for). However, because costs are not categorized in any way, users can include any kind of costs in their analysis. However, the literature does not say how any useful analysis can be accomplished using these other categories. For example, because a company does not directly incur external costs, users may not be able to do any kind of useful cost-time analysis of them.
The tool does not do any kind of cost estimation.
| Net present value (NPV) | --- |
| Payback period | --- |
| Internal rate of return (IRR) | --- |
| Benefits cost ratio | --- |
| Other | --- |
The technique can be applied to a wide range of projects and processes. The software package includes a detailed discussion of the diagnostic techniques that users can study.
The tool was not designed to be a commercial product.
The literature available expounds more on CTM as an analytical technique but does not really discuss the manner of use of the system (or related requirements and features). There is no discussion of anything other than usual costs. However, the system can be effectively applied to analyze hidden costs. The accuracy of the results will only be as good as the estimates and data supplied by users (on variables such as cycle time, wait time, costs, etc.). The package does not discuss the methodology that users may use to obtain this data(especially, estimating time). The system mainly provides users with a graphical "snapshot" of their process/project and a means of comparison with various alternatives. Cost details cannot be seen from the graphic. The tool will probably mask a great deal of information while dealing with large projects or those with long time horizons. These projects will need to be effectively broken down to a suitable level of detail.
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