Design to doc framework: a model to support aircraft direct operating cost reduction

Abstract

This paper presents the Design to DOC (Direct Operating Costs), a framework that aims at helping the aircraft companies toward DOC reduction right from the aircraft development initial phases. This paper has two main objectives: to present a framework that can analyze the impact of design alternatives into DOC and to apply it on a real situation for commercial aircrafts. The DOC framework usage calls for trade studies during the conceptual product development and provides the identification and graphic visualization of all effects of design choices. It has three phases: network build up, data input, and trade studies use. The Design to DOC network defines the relationships among all cost drivers and highlights those which are prone to value variation. This is achieved with the definition of arcs, nodes, and transmitters. The DOC framework has been applied to engineering changes on nacelle of a commercial aircraft. The results obtained have shown that the new nacelle design was a good design choice, as the DOC has been reduced. Furthermore, the usage of the DOC framework has been proven useful and efficient for achieving such results.