31 July 2013 SAE- BAJA 2014 – Raise The Bar Slide - 1

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR COST REPORT

Purpose of the Cost Report

• The cost report is your chance to accurately portray the cost of the

vehicle you expect to design, build and race at competition.

‒ Vehicle is not complete at the time of the report,

� Use the cost report as a (BOM) bill of material.

� Items still being designed should be estimated as

accurately as possible.

o Unforeseen changes should be shown on a cost

Purpose of the Cost Report

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o Unforeseen changes should be shown on a cost

adjustment form.

For example the selection of tires. Every car needs them and they

must be included in the cost report at submission.

‒ Estimate what size you will be racing, at a minimum

‒ Estimate a brand that you have a high confidence on using.

‒ Leaving tires off completely is not acceptable.

� Utilize the cost adjustment to reflect a change from the

original estimate.

Cost Adjustment Form

• Cost adjustment forms should be used to reflect changes that were

made post submission of the cost report.

• The form should not be used to submit entire subsystems or

significant components of a car (i.e. shocks, tires, rims,

transmissions, engines, brakes, etc)

• Cost adjustment forms will not be utilized if they exceed 25% of the

total cost of the car.

‒ Teams that exceeds 25% will be disqualified from the costing

Cost Adjustment Form

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‒ Teams that exceeds 25% will be disqualified from the costing

event.

Cost Adjustment Form

• If a team is audited at one competition, that team is not allowed to

use the cost adjustment form to submit the items found during the

cost audit in the next competition.

• Cost reports with or without cost adjustment forms which are

deemed to be incomplete will not be graded.

–Incomplete is defined as cost adjustments made by judges in

excess of 35% of the original cost you submitted

Cost Adjustment Form

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excess of 35% of the original cost you submitted

• At any point during the event Cost Judges can request to see the

costing on any particular item on your car. If item is not included

in your cost report or your cost adjustment sheet, you score will

be adjusted accordingly.

General Report Items

• All files must be named as defined in the rules.

– e.g. 001_XYZ University_Baja SAE India 2014_CostReport

• File sizes fit within the guidelines

–Excel

–PDF

–(Both files together should not exceed 6 MB)

General Report Items

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• File formats are per guidelines

–Submit a PDF File NOT a Word Document.

–Only .xls or .xlsx are allowed for the Excel file

General Report Items

• Official Costing Sheet

‒ Team Captain and Advisor need to sign the Official Costing

Sheet

‒ Typed names are not accepted (they are not signatures)

‒ Cut and pasted signatures are not accepted

‒ Sheet needs to be placed in PDF file with receipts

‒ It does not count if the signed forms are put in the excel file

General Report Items

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‒

‒

General Report Items

• Examples of Items to Include Complete with Receipts:

1. Engines – SAE provides a standard cost and a receipt must

be provided

2. Gas caps (part number referenced in the rules)

• Examples of Items NOT Needed:

1. Safety gear

a. Helmets

General Report Items

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a. Helmets

b. Neck Supports

c. Safety Jacket.

2. Registration fees do not need to be included

• Review documentation for what items must be included

(see Excel Cost Report, Cost Guide Tab)

General Report Items

• Include diagrams, pictures and overviews of significant

compenents or decisions. While not mandatory, it is useful.

• In particular, this is useful for areas of the car that are not easily

visible

Drive Clutch Cost Audit Locations

General Report Items

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Item 59

Courtesy:-www.bajasae.net/content/2012_CostPresentation.ppt

Excel Files: Tips for Completing

• Use the item and its descriptions as specified in summary sheet for

categorizing assemblies or parts in aggregates.

‒ You are very likely to be penalized if parts/assemblies are

included in wrong aggregates.

• Check your formulas, in particular:

‒ That individual rows are calculating correctly

‒ That sums encompass all rows and columns

‒ Totals are carrying over to the relevant sheets

‒ Formulas are referencing the correct row and columns

Excel Files: Tips for Completing

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‒

‒

‒ Formulas are referencing the correct row and columns

Correctly listed in

Engine aggregate /

subsystem

Needs to be in “Drive”

aggregate not

“Engine” aggregate

Excel Files: Tips for Completing

• Quantities need to be entered

• Sub-events needs to be used, regardless if you are only attending

one event

• “Fabricated” and “Purchased” are marked appropriately

• TBD – This does not work. You need to make your best estimate

based on your current design.

• Blanket lines items such as “cost to encompass everything not

included” also do not work and will be ignored.

Excel Files: Tips for Completing

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Excel Files: Tips for Completing – Cont

• More detail is better, if items are not the exact same, you should have

separate lines to document the difference.

‒ All tabs are not the same (i.e. shock mount tabs, body mount

tabs, etc.)

• Systems need to be broken down to reflect each of the various

components that make up the system. Even if, you purchased it as

one unit. (i.e. brakes need to show calipers, rotors, brake lines, brake

pads, fittings, etc.).

‒ Using the component categories is a good clue to estimate what

Excel Files: Tips for Completing – Cont’d

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‒ Using the component categories is a good clue to estimate what

we are expecting you to have.

• Labor – this needs to reflect the true cost of building the item. You

should be able to support the times if requested. (i.e. CNC an upright

in less then one minute. That works, if you are making it out of wood.

However, if you are using baja functional material, you need to be able

to support the cutting, finishing, etc.)

• If your design requires multiple setups to complete the machining and

finishing, you will need to include transfer time from one machine to

the next.

Submitting Receipts

• Please check scans prior to submission, if you can’t read them, we

won’t be able to either.

• Receipts should be in the same order as the cost report.

• If you purchased an assembly, you need to reflect the detail that is

shown on the support in the cost report. You should not group

everything as “suspension assembly” or “brake system”. Every line

should be reflected.

• For foreign purchased parts, show calculations of price using currency

conversion rates provided in rule book on the receipt and attach it in

Submitting Receipts

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conversion rates provided in rule book on the receipt and attach it in

documentation.

• Receipts can not be more then three years old. Support old receipts

with current year quotes from supplier/shops.

• No eBay, craigslist or junkyard documentation should be submitted.

• Standard cost for engine need to be used. This is per the rules.

• Receipts are required for all items over � 200, including standard

costing items such as engines, transponders and fuel caps.

Submitting Receipts

• Label all receipts to reflect the correct line in the report.

‒ Form Name

‒ Item Number

‒ Item Description

‒ Circle Cost

Submitting Receipts

Engine A, Line 4

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Engine A, Line 4

Submitting Receipts

• Receipts need to be in the Same Order as the cost report.

• Receipt Order Guide line:

‒ Official Costing Sheet

‒ Form A of each Subsystem

‒ If purchased components on Form B they should follow the

relevant Form A subsystem

Submitting Receipts

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Submitting Receipts

• All Cost Must be Retail Price

• Discounts are not allowed and should be backed out of the cost

Appropriate exchange rate refer rule book

Submitting Receipts

31 July 2013 SAE- BAJA 2014 – Raise The Bar Slide - 15 Courtesy:-www.bajasae.net/content/2012_CostPresentation.ppt

Cost Report Evaluation Steps

• Cost report submitted on time

• Off-Site Evaluations:‒ Cost Report:

� Cost report (Single PDF file)

• Summary Cost Sheet

• Overview (optional)

• Form A and Form B sheets form excel cost report template

• Cost documentation

� Cost Report Template (Excel File)

‒ Cost Report Criterion

Cost Report Evaluation Steps

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‒ Cost Report Criterion

� Cost calculations steps (referred Form A/B systematically. Specified deviations for

calculations, if any.)

� Part/assemblies listed in proper SECTIONS

� Exchange rates taken care for foreign parts, receipts specify section/form A/B line numbers

etc.

� Current years prices are used for older parts and they were supported with quotes and older

receipts.

� Referred material/operation rates specified as per rule book

• On-Site Evaluations:‒ Discussion with Team:

� Verify cost report against actuals and add correction factor to adjust cost, if any. Teams cost

report presentation.

‒ Prototype cost by formula: to arrive at comparative cost. (Refer rule book)

References

– Cost Report Tips

http://bajasae.net/content/2012_CostPresentation.ppt

– BAJA SAE India Rule Book 2014,

http://www.bajasaeindia.org/downloads/Rule-Book-BAJA-SAEINDIA-2014.pdf

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