Z94.4 - Cost Engineering & Project Management

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SALES. Orders booked by customers.

SALES ANALYSIS (OR RESEARCH). A systematic study and comparison of sales for consumption data along the lines of market areas, organizational units, products or product groups, customers or customer groups, or such other units as may be useful. (MARKET RESEARCH.)   Typical analyses would include: Promotion Evaluation, Quota Assignment, and Territory Assignment.

SALES FORECAST. A prediction or estimate of sales, in dollar or physical units, for a specified future period under a proposed marketing plan or program and under an assumed get of economic and other forces outside the unit for which the forecast is made. The forecast may be for a specified item of merchandise or for an entire line.

SALES PROFILE. The growth or decline of historical or forecast sales volume, by years.

SALES PRICE. The revenue received for a unit of a product. Gross sales price is the total amount paid. Net sales are gross sales less returns, discounts, freight and allowances. Plant netbacks are net sales less selling, administrative and research expenses. Syn.: Selling Price.

SALES REVENUE. Revenue received as a result of sales, but not necessarily during the same time period.

SALVAGE VALUE.  (l) the cost recovered or which could be recovered from a used property when removed, sold, or scrapped; (2) the market value of a machine or facility at any point in time (normally an estimate of an assets net market value at the end of its estimated life); (3) the value of an asset, assigned for tax computation purposes, that is expected to remain at the end of the depreciation period.

SCHEDULE. The plan for completion of a project based on a logical arrangement of activities, resources available, imposed dates or funding budget.

SCHEDULED COMPLETION DATE. A date assigned for completion of activity or accomplishment of an event for purposes of meeting specified schedule requirements.

SCHEDULED DATE. (See CONTRACT DATE.)

SCHEDULED VARIANCE. The difference between projected start and finish dates and actual or revised start and finish dates.

SCHEDULED EVENT TIME. In PERT, an arbitrary schedule time that can be v introduced at any event but is usually only used at a certain milestone or the last event.

SCHEDULE VARIANCE. The difference between BCWP and BCWS. At any point in time it represents the difference between the dollar value of work actually performed (accomplished) and that scheduled to be accomplished.

SCHEDULING. The assignment of desired start and finish times to each activity in the project within the overall time cycle required for completion according to plan.

SCHEDULING RULES. Basic rules that are spelled out ahead of time so that they can be used consistently in a scheduling system.

SCOPE. Defines the equipment and materials to be provided, and the work to be done, and is documented by the contract parameters for a project to which the company is committed.

SCOPE CHANGE. A deviation from the project scope originally agreed to in the contract. A scope change can consist of an activity either added to or  deleted from the original scope. A contract change order is needed to alter the project scope.

SEASONAL COMMODITIES. Commodities which are normally available in the market-place only in a given season of the year.

SEASONAL CARIATION. That movement in many economics series which tends to repeat itself within periods of a year.

SECONDARY FLOAT (SF). Is the same as the Total Float, except that it is calculated from a schedule date et upon an intermediate event.

SECULAR TREND. The smooth or regular movement of a long-term time series trend over a fairly long period of time.

SELLING EXPENSE. The total expense involved in marketing the products in question. This normally includes direct selling costs, advertising, and customer service.

SELLING PRICE. (See SALES PRICE.)

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS. A test of the outcome of an analysis by altering one or more parameters from an initially assumed value(s).

SENTIMENTAL VALUE. A value associated with an individuals personal desire, usually related to a prior personal relationship.

SERVICEABILITY. A measure of the degree to which servicing of an item will be accomplished within a given time under specified conditions.

SERVICING. The replenishment of consumables needed to keep an item in operating condition, but not including any other preventive maintenance or any corrective maintenance.

SERVICE WORTH VALUE. Earning value, assuming the rates and/or prices charged are just equal to the reasonable worth to customers of the services and/or commodities sold.

SHIFTING BASE. Changing the point of reference of an index number series from one time reference period to another.

SHOP DRAWINGS. All drawings, diagrams, illustrations, schedules and other data which are specifically prepared by or for the contractor to illustrate some portion of the work and all illustrations, brochures, standard schedule, performance charts, instructions, diagrams and other information prepared by a supplier and submitted by the contractor to illustrate material or equipment for some portion of the work.

SHOP ORDER NUMBER. (See ACCOUNT NUMBER.)

SHORT-TERM ACTIVITIES. (See MONTHLY GUIDE SCHEDULE.)

SHUTDOWN POINT. The production level at which it becomes less expensive to close the plant and pay remaining fixed expenses out-of- pocket rather than continue operations; that is, the plant cannot meet its variable expense. (BREAKDOWN POINT.)

SIC CODE. The Standard Industrial Classification of the office of Management and Budget, which provides the framework for the industry- sector index classification scheme. Product indexes are aggregated to five-digit product classes and four-digit industries. Industry indexes can be aggregated to three- and two-digit levels as well.

SIGNIFICANT VARIANCES. Those differences between planned and actual performance which exceed established thresholds and which require further review, analysis and action.

SIMPLE PAYBACK PERIOD (SPP). The time required for the cumulative benefits from an investment to pay back the investment cost and other accrued costs, not considering the time value of money.

SITE PREPARATION. An act involving grading, landscaping, installation of roads and siding, of an area of ground upon which anything previously located had been cleared so as to make the area free of obstructions, entanglements or possible collisions with the positioning or placing of anything new or planned.

SLACK. (See FLOAT.)

SLACK PATHS. The sequences of activities and events that do not lie on the critical path or paths.

SLACK TIME. The difference in calendar time between the scheduled due date for a job and the estimated completion date. If a job is to be completed ahead of schedule, it is said to have slack time; if it is likely to be completed behind schedule, it is said to have negative slack time. Slack time can be used to calculate job priorities using methods such as the critical ratio. In the critical path method, total slack is the amount of time a job may be delayed in starting without necessarily delaying the project completion time. Free slack is the amount of time a job may be delayed in starting without delaying the start of any other job in the project.

SPECIFICATION, DESIGN (PRESCRIPTIVE). A design specification providing a detailed written and/or graphic presentation of the required properties of a product, material, or piece of equipment, and prescribing the procedure for its fabrication, erection, and installation.

SPECIFICATION, PERFORMANCE. A statement of required results, verifiable as meeting stipulated criteria, and generally free of instruction as to the method of accomplishment.

SPECIFICATIONS. Written directions regarding the quality of materials and the nature of the workmanship for a job. Specifications may be written directly on the drawings, or presented in a separate document.

SPLICING TECHNIQUE. One of the procedures used for maintaining the continuity of a price index series in the case of substituted items (and/or replaced outlets). The basic assumption underlying the technique is that, at a given point in time, the relative difference prices between the replaced and replacing items (and/or outlets) reflects the difference in respective qualities. In effect, the splicing technique is analogous to, and may be considered a particular case of, the linking procedure.

SPOT MARKET PRICE INDEX. Daily index used as a measure of price movements of 22 sensitive basic commodities whose markets are to be presumed to be among the first to be influenced by changes in economic conditions. It serves as one early indicator of impending changes in business activity.

STAGE OF PROCESSING. A commodity’s intermediate position in the value- added channel of production.

STANDARD DEVIATION. The most widely used measure of dispersion of a frequency distribution. It is calculated by summing squared deviations from the mean, dividing by the number of items in the group and taking the square root of the quotient.

STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC CODE). A classification system of the Office of Management and Budget which provides the framework for, the industry-sector index classification scheme. Product indexes are aggregated to five-digit product classes and four-digit industries. Industry indexes can be aggregated to three- and two-digit levels as well.   Example: industry code - 3443 – fabricated platework; product code - 80201 – carbon steel tanks and vessels

STANDARD NETWORK DIAGRAM. A predefined network intended to be used v more than one time in any given project.

STARTING EVENT. (See BEGINNING EVENT.)

STARTUP. That period after the date of initial operation, during which the unit is brought up to acceptable production capacity and quality within estimated production costs. Startup is the activity that commences on the date of initial activity that has significant duration on most projects, but is often confused (used interchangeably) with date of initial operation.

STARTUP COSTS. Extra operating costs to bring the plant on stream incurred between the completion of construction and beginning of normal operations. In addition to the difference between actual operating costs during that period and normal costs, it also includes employee training, equipment tests, process adjustments, salaries and travel expense of temporary labor, staff and consultants, report writing, post-startup monitoring and associated overhead. Additional capital required to correct plant problems may be included. Startup costs are sometimes capitalized.

STATUS. The condition of the project at a specified point in time relative to its plan. An instantaneous snapshot of the then current conditions. (See PROGRESS.)

STATUS LINE. A vertical line on a time-scaled schedule indicating the point in time (date) on which the status of the project is reported. Often referred to as the time now line. (See DATA DATE.)

STATUSING. Indicating on the schedule the most current project status. (See UPDATING.)

STOCK AND BOND VALUE. A special form of market value for enterprises, which can be owned through possession of their securities. Stock and bond value is the sum of (1) the par values in dollars of the different issues of bond multiplied by the corresponding ratios of the market price to the par value, and (2) the number of shares of each issue of stock multiplied by the corresponding market price in dollars per share.

STOP WORK ORDER. (See SUSPENSION OF WORK, DIRECTED.)

STRAIGHT-LINE DEPRECIATION. Method of depreciation whereby the amount to be recovered (written off) is spread uniformly over the estimated life of the asset in terms of time periods or units of output.

STUDY PERIOD. The length of time over which an investment is analyzed. Syn: Life Cycle, Time Horizon.

SUBCONTRACT. Any agreement or arrangement between a contractor and any person (in which the parties do not stand in the relationship of an employer and an employee) and where neither party is the owner.

SUBCONTRACTOR. An individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture or other combination thereof having a direct contract with the contractor or with any other subcontractor for the performance of a part of the work at the site.

SUBINDEX. A price index for a sub-aggregate of a given basket of commodities.

SUBNET. The subdivision of a network into segments usually representing some form of sub-project; a portion of a larger network generally for a unique area of a project. (See FRAG NET.)

SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION. Work (or a specified part thereof) which has progressed to the point where in the opinion of the engineer, as evidenced by the engineers definitive certificate of substantial completion, it is sufficiently complete, in accordance with the contract documents, so that the work (or specified part) can be utilized for the purposes for which it is intended; or if there be no such certificate issued, when final payment is due in accordance with the general conditions. Substantial completion of the work, or specified part thereof, may be achieved either upon completion of pre-operational testing or startup testing, depending upon the requirements of the contract documents. The terms Substantially Complete and Substantially Completed as applied to any work refer to substantial completion thereof.

SUBSYSTEM. An aggregation of component items (hardware and software) performing some distinguishable portion of the function of the total system of which it is a part. Normally, a subsystem could be considered a system in itself if it were not an integral part of the larger system.

SUCCESSOR ACTIVITY. Any activity that exists on a common path with the activity in question and occurs after the activity in question.

SUCCESSOR EVENT. The event that signifies the completion of an activity. (See J-NODE (ADM))

SUMMARY ITEM. An item appearing in the work breakdown structure.

SUMMARY NETWORK. A summarization of the CPM network for presentation purposes. This network is not computed.

SUMMARY NUMBER. A number that identifies an item in the work breakdown structure.

SUM-OF-DIGITS-METHOD. A method of computing depreciation in which the amount for any year is based on the ratio: (years of remaining life)/(1+2+3...+n), n being the total anticipated life. Also known as sum-of-the-years-digits method.

SUNK COST. A cost that has already been incurred and which should not be considered in making a new investment decision.

SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE. (See MISREPRESENTATION.)

SUPPLEMENTARY CONDITIONS. The part of the contract documents which amends or supplements the general conditions.

SUPPLIER. A manufacturer, fabricator, distributor or vendor.

SURETY. A bonding company licensed to conduct business which guarantees the owner that the contract will be completed (Performance Bond) and that subcontractors and suppliers will be paid (Payment Bond).

SUSPENSION OF WORK, CONSTRUCTIVE. An act or failure to act by the owner, or the owners representative, which is not a directed suspension of work or work stoppage, but which has the effect of delaying, interrupting, or suspending all or a portion of the work.

SUSPENSION OF WORK, DIRECTED. Actions resulting from an order of the V owner to delay, interrupt, or suspend any or all portions of the work for a given period of time, for the convenience of the owner.

SYSTEM. A collection of hardware (equipment and facilities) and related software (procedures, etc.) designated to perform a unique and useful function. A system contains everything necessary (except personnel and materials or supplies) to perform its defined function.

SYSTEMS STUDIES. The development and application of methods and techniques for analyzing and assessing programs, activities and projects to review and assess efforts to date and to determine future courses and directions. These studies include cost/ benefit analysis, environmental impact analysis, assessment of the likelihood of technical success, forecasts of possible futures resulting from specific actions, and guidance for energy program planning and implementation.

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