A Practical Technique for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Computer-Aided Design and Drafting Systems

Analyses of benefits and costs associated with the operation of Computer-Aided Design and Drafting Systems (CADDS) are needed to derive economic justification for acquiring new systems, as well as to evaluate the performance of existing installations. In practice, however, such analyses are difficult to perform since most technical and economic advantages of CADDS are "irreducibles", i.e. cannot be readily translated into monetary terms. In this paper, a practical technique for economic analysis of CADDS in a drawing office environment is presented. A "worst case" approach is taken since increase in productivity of existing manpower is the only benefit considered, while all foreseen costs are taken into account. Methods of estimating benefits and costs are described. The procedure for performing the analysis is illustrated by a case study based on the drawing office activities at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.