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VALUE ENGINEERING/
VALUE ANALYSIS
AND THEIR ROLES
IN THE
MUSEUM
PLANNING PROCESS
PRESENTED TO THE ICMS BY:
ROGER L. WULFF
MUSEUM SERVICES INTERNATIONAL
(Museum Planning/Value Engineering/Analysis Group)
1716 17TH STREET N.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-2402
TEL: (202) 462-6176 FAX: (202) 462-2380
http://www.MuseumServicesIntl.org
E MAIL: museplan@erols.com
more about this subject....
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD OF "VE" AND "VA"
In a recent publication dealing with Museum Design and Planning it was stated that:
"Construction managers and owner’s representatives can also provide a service called Value Engineering (through a Certified Value Specialist), making alternative recommendations to build comparable structures in a more cost-effective way than had been proposed by the designer or architect." 1.
In the same publication, it was also stated that "the single most important economic phenomenon acknowledged by the museums surveyed (and also universally throughout the field) is that museums often are not adequately prepared for the high costs of future operations."
What this publication did not state is the fact that Value Engineering can help a museum plan for or "get a handle on" these future operational costs through something called LIFE CYCLE COSTING.
Recently, the author was asked to be a member of a Value Engineering
Team assembled by Edward J. Nichols and Associates, Inc. for a proposal
to conduct Value Engineering Studies at The Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, VA. It was during the preparation of this proposal that the author learned about the fields of Value Analysis/Value Engineering and the tremendous quality assurance and cost-savings potential it held for the cultural and museum communities, not only in their construction of new and renovated facilities, but in their programmatic activities as well.
PP. 142 -154 "Museum Design - Planning and Building for Art,"
Joan Darragh & James S. Snyder, Oxford University Press, in association with The American Federation of Arts and The National Endowment for The Arts, New York, 1993.
After being selected by The Science Museum of Virginia for this project, we learned that our VE Team was to conduct a Value Engineering Study on the Building Program for a major renovation to the present museum structure (housed in a former Railroad Station) at the 35% design stage and later phases (a one year contract).
WHAT IS VALUE ENGINEERING?
Value Engineering (synonymous with the terms
Value Management, Value Analysis and Value For Money)
is a professional applied, function-oriented, systematic
objective team approach used to analyze and improve
value in a product, facility design, system or service -
a powerful methodology for solving problems and/or
reducing costs while improving performance/quality
requirements. By enhancing value characteristics,
Value Engineering increases customer satisfaction
and adds value to your investment. Value Engineering
can be applied to any business or economic sector,
including industry, government, construction and service.
HISTORIC USE
VE was developed during World War II by U.S. industry as a means to continue production in the face of shortages of critical war material by substituting materials or systems that were available to accomplish the required task. The General Electric Company is generally credited with the development of the technique then known as "Value Analysis." The U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships in 1954 applied the concept to reduce costs during the design stage and called it ``Value Engineering.''
The Department of Defense (DOD) accepted VE as a practical means of
obtaining the best practical value from its procurements and adopted VE in contract clauses under the Armed Forces Procurement Regulations (AFPR) in
1961, permitting contractor incentives in sharing VE contract cost reductions.
CURRENT USE
Currently all of the DOD's operating agencies have adopted VE in their procurement programs, including construction, as have agencies of the DOT including the FAA, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Authority (FTA formerly UMTA),The Environmental Protection Agency, The Interior Department and now The National Park Service is initiating plans for VE/VA Studies within the U.S. National Parks System.
The FAA achieved life-cycle savings of $65 million on one construction project alone (airport cable loops/telecommunications), and the FTA reported life-cycle savings of $2.18 million on a bus maintenance facility. Other agencies have reported large life-cycle savings in construction programs, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with life-cycle savings of $235 million over a 5-year period, the General Services Administration (GSA) which reported life-cycle savings of $43.4 million over the period 1972 to 1979, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which reported life-cycle savings of $2 billion over the period 1964 to 1989. VE provides both the funding agency and the sponsor of a project with the opportunity and the means to not only improve the project but to substantially reduce costs.
FUNDAMENTALS OF VALUE ENGINEERING
The Federal Acquisition Regulations, Part 52.248, defines value engineering as an organized effort to analyze the functions of systems, equipment, facilities, services, and supplies for the purpose of achieving essential functions at the lowest life-cycle cost consistent with required performance, quality, and safety. VE is an important management tool for optimizing expenditures of funds. Numerous government and private organizations have realized significant life-cycle savings since VE was first introduced, and although the techniques were developed for manufacturing and fabrication processes it has been equally applicable to the design of transportation facilities and construction/renovation projects. Engineers have been doing this type of analysis as a matter of course in their work since engineering was developed. The difference is that VE is an organized approach for a second look using a consistent set of concepts to optimize the difference between the cost of doing the construction and the cost of satisfying the user of the facility constructed. Reducing the scope of a project, or compromising the performance of an element, or simply substituting cheaper materials that will not function with the required reliability is not value engineering. The key feature of VE is the user-oriented approach. Reduced to it's simplest terms, it asks five basic questions:
1. What is it?
2. What does it do?
3. What does it cost?
4. What else will do the job?
5. What does that cost?
TIMING
VE, as it relates to the engineering and design of projects, is most effective when it is accomplished early in the design phase of the project. VE is most effective during these early stages because the ideas are still conceptual and the sponsor and the designer can be flexible with their decisions without incurring delays in the project schedule. The sponsor and designer should be examining their project budget at this point and performing a VE study can help them identify high cost elements before the final budget is decided. Once major decisions, those involving high cost items, are made the opportunity to influence final costs is greatly reduced.
Value engineering studies for construction projects should be conducted at about the 30 percent completion point of design. Therefore, the designer should submit a partially completed design at the 30% or 35% design completion stage. This partially completed design will be value engineered. There may be instances where value engineering at the 30% or 35% design stage is not appropriate. For example, construction phasing can have a significant impact on costs but not be determined until late in the design process.
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VALUE ENGINEERING
VE has five characteristics that are essent