Standard defines common terminology, offers a standardized Job Plan - while allowing the great diversity of individual practices that have been successfully developed - and is offered to reduce confusion to those being introduced to VM. The Standard includes the approved Job Plan, the Body of Knowledge as developed by the SAVE International professional Certification Board, typical profiles of the Value Specialist and Value Manager, duties of a Value Organization, a glossary, and an appendix of references.

APPLICABILITY
The Value Methodology can be applied wherever cost and/or performance improvement is desired. That improvement can be measured in terms of monetary aspects and/or other critical factors such as productivity, quality, time, energy, environmental impact, and durability. VM can beneficially be applied to virtually all areas of human endeavor

The Value Methodology is applicable to hardware, building or other construction projects, and to "soft" areas such as manufacturing and construction processes, health care and environment services, programming, management systems and organization structure. The pre-study efforts for these "soft" types of projects utilizes standard industrial engineering techniques such as flow charting, yield analysis, and value added task analysis to gather essential data.

For civil, commercial and military engineering works such as buildings, highways, factory construction, and water/sewage treatment plants, which tend to be one time applications, VM is applied on a project to project basis. Since these are one-time capital projects, VM must be applied as early in the design cycle as feasible to achieve maximum benefits. Changes or redirection of design can be accomplished without extensive redesign, large implementation cost, and schedule impacts. Typically for large construction projects, specific value studies are conducted during the schematic stage and then again at the design development (up to 45%) stage. Additional value studies may be conducted during the construction or build phase.

For large or unique products and systems such as military electronics or specially designed capital equipment, VM is applied during the design cycle to assure meeting of goals and objectives. Typically a formalized value study is performed after preliminary design approval but before release to the build/manufacture cycle. VM may also be applied during the build/manufacture cycle to assure that the latest materials and technology are utilized.
VM can also be applied during planning stages, and for project/program management control by developing function models with assigned cost and performance parameters. If specific functions show trends toward beyond control limits, value studies are performed to assure the function’s performance remains within the control limits.

THE VALUE METHODOLOGY JOB PLAN
The Value Methodology uses a systematic Job Plan. The Job Plan outlines specific steps to effectively analyze a product or service in order to develop the maximum number of alternatives to achieve the product’s or service’s required functions. Adherence to the Job Plan will better assure maximum benefits while offering greater flexibility.
The VM Job Plan covers three major periods of activity: Pre-Study, the Value Study, and Post-Study. All phases and steps are performed sequentially. As a value study progresses new data and information may cause the study team to return to earlier phases or steps within a phase on an iterative basis. Conversely, phases or steps within phases are not skipped.

VALUE STUDY TEAM
A key to the successful application of a value study is the skills and experience of those applying the methodology. While the methodology can, and often is, used by individuals, for significant projects it has been proven that a well organized team obtains the best value for effort performed.

The Team Leader performs a key role and is a significant factor in the degree of success. The Team Leader must have thorough training in both the Value Methodology and team facilitation. The requirements include strong leadership, communication skills, and experience working with users/clients.

The size and composition of the team is project dependent. The members should represent a diverse background and experience that incorporates all the knowledge required to fully cover the issues and objectives of the project. Typically these include cost, estimating, procurement/materials, and those technical disciplines unique to the project such as design, manufacturing, construction, environmental, and marketing.

It is most advantageous for the team leader, or a team member, to implement the approved value proposals at study completion.

Decisions based primarily upon one technical discipline will often have significant effects on other disciplines within the project. In addition to being technically competent, team member selection should include individuals who represent the range of disciplines and end users the study results will impact. They must be individuals who generate positive attitudes and are willing to investigate new ideas and then rationally evaluate them.