TABLE OF CONTENTS The goal of supportability is to provide the user with a system that meets specified requirements at the lowest possible life cycle cost. Simply stated, the formula for determining life cycle costs is to sum all costs associated with a product during its lifetime from concept development to phase-out.
Pareto or ABC analysis often indicates that 20% of a system's components incur or cause 80% of the costs.
Typical Breakout of System Life Cycle Costs
US government acquisition programs define life cycle cost as:
The total cost to the government of acquisition and ownership of that system over its useful life. It includes the cost of development, acquisition, operations, and support (to include manpower), and where applicable, disposal. Defense Systems Management College
Another definition of life cycle cost is:
Life Cycle Cost is the total cost of ownership of machinery and equipment, including its cost of acquisition, operation, maintenance, conversion, and/or decommission. Society of Automotive Engineers
Reliability and Maintainability Data
Production and Construction Data
Logistics Support Analysis Data
Management Planning Data
Engineering Design Data
Consumer Utilization
Market Analysis Data
Accounting Data
Value Analysis
Recurring and Nonrecurring
Direct and Indirect
Past and Future
Total and Unit
Variable and Fixed
Incremental
Incidental
Functional
Economic Life (cost of operation): Although an aging system may still be functional, it may become...
