Experience the Power of PRICE Research
"Powered by PRICE Research" is not just a catch-phrase; it's our company philosophy. Powered by PRICE Research represents the industry's most-effective model for conducting and capitalizing on independent cost research and analysis.
Our Team of Experts
Since our inception, PRICE has been dedicated to a philosophy of remaining the premier provider of cost research. Today, our global network of cost experts continues to perform independent research and information gathering, with more than 30 years of experience throughout the aerospace, defense, government, civilian, and commercial sectors.
Our team of research experts delivers Cost Models and Knowledge Bases of industry-specific benchmark data. We simplify the job of estimating by:
- Collecting and analyzing data stratified by specific services and product types
- Delivering this analysis to the cost estimating community
We continue to serve the needs of PRICE clients with updates to the relationships and tables in our solutions.
Led by our Chief Scientist, Arlene Minkiewicz, the PRICE Research team is highly regarded by industry associations. Our thought-leaders have been awarded patents, served as expert witnesses, won awards for their cutting-edge research, spoken at educational institutions and industry conferences, published technical articles for periodicals and text books, and served on important oversight committees.
We Add Value to the Industry
PRICE Systems' approach to cost research begins with collecting cost metrics and benchmark data. Then we apply the disciplines of operations research, methods analysis, benchmark collection, data normalization, database creation, statistical analysis, Cost Estimating Relationships (CER) development, and Total Ownership Cost Model Development. Using performance-based metrics, we develop cost models, catalogs, tables and wizards, knowledge bases, and white papers that provide the cost community with accurate and efficient data to help achieve the project's mission.
We understand the challenge of performing timely and accurate cost estimates, as well as the value of subject matter expertise and effective tools. The solution relies on supporting cost research that's "fool proof." At PRICE, our research fuels our own product development, helping to produce tools that will sustain a credible estimate.
How We Support the Cost Estimating Community
The primary focus of our cost research is on delivering products that support the needs of the cost-estimating community. Our research decisions for tool and model development are based on the requirements of the community. We solicit research topics from our clients that address their cost estimating challenges. We then identify, collect, cleanse, and normalize available data and calibrate it into usable data points; resulting knowledge is stored and maintained in the PRICE KnowledgeNetwork. By updating CERs, tables, and generators in the PRICE TruePlanning® suite, results are commonly documented in industry publications and symposia.
In an ever-changing environment, the cost-estimating community has put a recurring emphasis on collecting data for providing credible estimates. PRICE Systems vows to continue exploring new and ongoing research areas that will help define and evolve the world of cost estimating.
Products that Deliver Our Cost Research
PRICE TruePlanning applications encapsulate the company's experience with hundreds of projects in the federal market, expertise in software development, and continuous cost research. It includes:
- PRICE Cost Models: industry-specific, standard parametric cost models and benchmarks
- PRICE KnowledgeNetwork: a repository for metric benchmarks of actual projects
PRICE Cost Models contain the knowledge base of hundreds of similar projects and their associated individual cost elements and correlated components. These tools provide automated "experience capture." In addition to having access to the hundreds of proven Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs) "embedded" in the PRICE Cost Models, cost engineers and analysts can develop custom cost models rapidly and accurately, using a common technology and methodology to define functional components, structure, activities, cost drivers, and processes.
With PRICE KnowledgeNetwork, a Web-based application hosted on the PRICE Web site, customers can obtain knowledge bases of typical PRICE input values for systems and components. PRICE KnowledgeNetwork provides industry-standard data from PRICE, complexity data, and public domain data such as that found in the NAFCOM99 database. Not only will this data offer a starting point for new estimates and sophisticated trend analyses, but also it can be used to facilitate knowledge management in your own organization.
