In manufacturing and product development, the terms cost estimator and cost engineer are often used interchangeably. Although the roles can overlap, they contribute differently to the business. A cost estimator primarily translates a design into a cost. In contrast, a cost engineer uses cost knowledge to influence the design, guide sourcing decisions, and improve the value of the final product.

I am frequently amazed by how often cost engineers will gloss over assembly operations and treat them as a small line item, a rough “catch-all” assumption, or a brief cost model element labeled as “someone just puts it together.” But that simple act within a cost model can hide a lot of activity: reaching for parts, orienting them correctly, finding the right angle, starting a fastener, checking fit, handling a tool, moving material, or dealing with a fixture that almost works but not quite. These little motions are easy to underestimate during quoting and design reviews. On the factory floor, though, they show up as real time, real labor, and real cost.  That is exactly where Methods-Time Measurement, or MTM, becomes valuable.

Cost Engineering is often associated with estimating: spreadsheets, labor assumptions, material pricing, and budget forecasting. That view is no longer broad enough. In many industries, the role has expanded well beyond technical estimation into a strategic function that influences supplier negotiations, sourcing decisions, business planning, and profitability. Today’s Cost Engineers are increasingly expected not just to calculate cost, but to explain it, challenge it, and turn it into better decisions.

SPCEA recently ran a multiple-choice poll on LinkedIn asking a simple question:
“How are you MOSTLY using AI in your current role?”

One of the most valuable skills a cost engineer can develop is the ability to gather accurate information directly from the manufacturing floor. The true drivers of cost are often hidden within the details of the manufacturing process itself.

As Women's History Month comes to a close, many organizations move on quickly, closing the chapter on panels, spotlights, and internal campaigns. In technical fields like cost engineering and analysis, the month can feel peripheral to the "real work": building estimates, managing uncertainty, defending assumptions under pressure.

During a recent podcast interview I recorded for one of Italy's leading coaching programs, I had the opportunity to discuss a concept I explore deeply in my recent book, Authentically Yours: "Courage is a muscle."

In many organizations, the role of cost engineering is narrowly associated with supplier negotiations, purchase price analysis, and cost reduction workshops. While those responsibilities remain important, leading OEMs, especially within the automotive industry, have expanded the role significantly. Today, cost engineers are deeply involved in competitive benchmarking activities that help manufacturers understand where they stand in the marketplace, not only from a technical standpoint but also from a cost-competitiveness perspective.

In the aftermath of World War II, Ford Motor Company stood on the brink of collapse. Once the embodiment of industrial innovation under Henry Ford, the company had drifted into administrative chaos by the mid-1940s. Leadership instability, outdated practices, and a lack of financial discipline left Ford hemorrhaging money, losing tens of millions of dollars without having the accounting systems to understand why.

From design to calculation – why networked systems make all the difference to profitability

In product development, up to 80 percent of the subsequent costs are already determined in the design phase. Nevertheless, cost evaluation often takes place shortly before series production begins – too late to take countermeasures. The consequences are costly adjustments, additional costs, and decisions based on uncertain data.

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, many organizations move on quickly, closing the chapter on panels, spotlights, and internal campaigns. In technical fields like cost engineering and analysis, the month can feel peripheral to the “real work”: building estimates, managing uncertainty, defending assumptions under pressure.

Many cost engineers don’t start their careers on a factory floor. They start with spreadsheets, drawings, cycle times on paper, and assumptions that everything runs the way it is theoretically supposed to. In many cases, that works… right up until it doesn’t. That’s where OEE comes in.

It’s important to distinguish between measurements made from the financial accounting perspective and those made from the managerial accounting perspective. Periodicity is important in financial accounting. Expenses are measurements of the resources consumed during a specific period of time using measurable and auditable historical information in compliance with man-made rules and regulations. Managerial accounting, on the other hand, is more concerned with the long-term, sustainable economics of an organization. Expenses are measurements of the resources that need to be consumed for the organization to sustain its business over the long-term, whether or not those resources are consumed during a specific period of time.

In cost engineering - especially within the electronics industry, as in my own work - it’s easy to think that mastery lives in spreadsheets, cost models, and perfectly formatted should-cost reports. Those tools matter, but they aren’t where deep understanding is forged. The most effective cost engineers I’ve known pair strong analytical skills with real-world experience. My own most valuable insights didn’t come from a cost model; they came from hands-on work: touching parts, building circuits, breaking things, fixing them, and seeing firsthand how manufacturing and assembly actually behave when theory meets reality.

This month, I want to do something a little different—I want to talk about me for a change.

During my four decades as a consultant, it has never ceased to amaze me how little attention manufacturing firms pay to the amount of time they use the equipment they’ve invested in to generate a return on that investment. The equipment uptime needed to drive their cost models is seldom available and must be somehow be estimated. Although they see their equipment as an available and valuable resource, they don’t appear to treat it as an investment. They fail to grasp to economic impact of idle equipment and how that relates to their return on investment (ROI).

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the cost engineering profession, and its impact in the workplace is undeniable.  Manual, repetitive, rule-based costing work is rapidly being automated. If your job consists of little more than generating should-cost estimates, then you are at risk because that part of the job is going away.

Dear SPCEA Community - I’m thrilled to share some exciting news with you!!  My first book, Authentically Yours: The Global Woman’s Guide to Confident, Cross-Cultural Leadership, officially launches on December 1, 2026.

September is here — and let’s be honest, we’re all feeling a little of the back-to-school blues. The long days of summer are winding down, vacations are over, and routines are back in full swing. But instead of sinking into post-summer sadness, let’s lighten the mood together.

Okay, I must tell you something that blew my mind. Just this week, two different people casually mentioned that pumpkin spice lattes are coming back soon, and they’re already thinking about Halloween decorations.