A particular aspect of DECIDE bid decision support system: modeling of life-cycle processes and costs

ESPRIT project no. 22298, DECIDE (DECIsion support for optimal biDding in a competitive business Environment), has developed a methodology and a related decision support system to assist user companies in their bidding process. In this paper, the costing module is discussed with regard to industrial expectations for logistic businesses. This module is based on an enterprise products and processes repository (EPPMR). It manages the product breakdown structure, supports the technical description of a bid, re-using previous bid elements (know-how capitalization). TSI (Thomson-CSF Services Industrie) developed a specific tool for logistic support cost evaluation (SICLO). This specific tool proposes a detailed cost structure, year by year, including all the elements involved in product support: documentation, training, spare parts, test benches, maintenance, etc. As a result, it is possible to evaluate the overall global cost and its yearly decomposition. The focus is on the use of DECIDE in the ILS (integrated logistic support) business. In this way, common points and differences are developed in order to promote the DECIDE toolkit in this business context