Engineering Productivity Measures II (Archived)

Research Team 192 (RT-192) was commissioned as a follow-up to the Engineering Productivity Measurement Research Team (RT-156). Their primary objective was to continue development of a standardized productivity measurement methodology.

The focus of RT-192 remained on the evaluation of engineering productivity through the measurement of physical design quantities instead of typical deliverables such as drawings or specifications. It was found that measuring productivity through physical quantities was more consistent and reliable and not subject to differences in work processes across the industry.

Through the evaluation of 118 projects with a total installed cost (TIC) of approximately $15 billion the team provided two different options for implementation methods of the findings. These methods are the “off-the-shelf” and “custom-tailored” approach.

In conclusion, RT-192, recommends that engineering productivity should be evaluated by a statistical index. By indexing the project output metrics a company can evaluate each project with the goal of reducing the index over time. Productivity Index is defined by the research team below.

Evaluation and determination of disciplines “basis hours” is predicted by the model using design quantities. Summary of productivity basis hours models is found in Key Finding #2 below.

Although engineering is close to 20 percent of the project cost, its impact on the other 80 percent is great. Organizations looking to improve detailed engineering processes will find this form of evaluation a good metric to confirm the improvement trend.