Altair Adds Cost Estimation Software to Its Arsenal

Altair add new cost estimation tools to its formidable CAE arsenal.

The Altair Partner Alliance has added Hyperlean s.r.l.’s cost estimation tool, LeanCOST, to its HyperWorks CAE suite.

Regardless of what type of engineering a design firm is doing, cost is going to be one of the foremost factors driving decision-making. In every discipline, it’s important to balance the best design possible with the most affordable production cost available. And while I risk being simplistic by not taking into account the weight of market demand and industry trends, it’s safe to say that when cost and quality align, companies often find themselves with a valuable product, and a market that’s willing to snap up their goods.

To help engineering teams control their costs and achieve greater market success, LeanCOST has been equipped with easy-to-use tools that can estimate the cost of anything from an entire product to a single assembly component. By using feature recognition tools, LeanCOST can isolate which features in a design are going to make costs soar, thus making design decision easier for both engineers and management. Furthermore, since LeanCOST can be used quickly and easily, it can be employed even during the earliest phases of design, making it possible to eliminate revisions and unsnarl errant CAD geometry.

“LeanCOST aligns perfectly with Altair’s vision of supporting design engineers in achieving the optimal design solution throughout the entire product lifecycle,” said Rocco Cappiello, vice president of engineering analytics at Altair. “Having the capability to estimate cost in the early concept phase helps design for various manufacturing methods and provides an extensive process knowledge base for cost analysis, even in the absence of in-house process experts. LeanCOST provides design teams with the ability to make smart decisions with real-time cost feedback and a repeatable estimating process in combination with design of experiment analysis and multiobjective optimization.”

Aside from its cost estimation features, LeanCOST includes a litany of machines and raw material statistics that can further improve the accuracy of cost estimation. By adding real-world machine and materials statistics to its feature recognition abilities, LeanCOST can lend engineering decision-makers the tools to gain deep insight into how and where their products can be best manufactured.