Linking total costs and benefits of ownership (TCBO) and process chain simulation for integrated assessment of manufacturing technologies and processes.

Current methods of technology assessment seldom include the manufacturing processes and organization around the investment target. As most interdependencies cannot be quantified, companies predominantly assess technology investments via methods which exclude monetary evaluation of technological aspects. Moreover, future costs and benefits of the manufacturing technologies are rarely considered systematically when making conventional investment decisions. This procedure does not necessarily lead to an optimal investment choice. In order to invest in low life-cycle costs technologies, the costs within the manufacturing processes and organization around the investment target, as well as all future costs and benefits, have to be carefully considered. The following paper introduces a new approach to analysing Total Costs and Benefits of Ownership (TCBO) using process chain simulation models. A representative manufacturing concept provides a practical insight how to use simulation in order to generate a database for technology assessment. Furthermore, the article discusses how future costs and benefits as well as the Net Present Value method, could be integrated within the TCBO-approach.