• • Implies: Only a few large repairs were done; expensive specialty work – requiring special skills/ custom-made/material/equipment/machinery was performed;  additional equipment required; did more repairs than planned; paving charges; overtime charges/ shift-work differential; first of a kind situation; an increase in overhead rates; price or wages/ benefit increases; loss of volume discounts or a high quality of service was provided/ excessive (possibly unnecessary) cutting-edge testing performed; emergency work – done continuously; permit stipulations delayed job; awaiting approvals; vendor delays/ unplanned inclement weather/ other delays; union-mandated overtime/ poor workmanship/ faulty equipment/ high rental equipment cost/ changes to design/ routine/scope; re-work; changes to specifications/ quality standards/ higher material costs (could result in reduced number of units produced)/ lost/ missing/ damaged material/ material shortages/ more frequent & smaller than planned deliveries/ longer testing/ analysis time periods/ holiday-related costs/paying for no-show or no-work jobs (hours that are never worked) or other falsely inflated tactics/ Expensive coding and billing codes (make people justify in-detail the conditions why specific codes are being billed) being applied (possibly unnecessary and excessive); too few workers (requiring overtime to complete the work); regulatory/ government requirement; under-funding creating unplanned expenses for others; over-classification of products/services/ possible litigation issues/ Acts of God/ additional or new benefits/ health care costs/ pay raises/ increased payroll/benefit/labor costs/ higher packaging costs/ increased transportation costs/ improper coordination of organizations/ trades on-site/ unavailable certified repair technician/ cost overruns/ skilled worker shortage

• Less Efficient Workers: Perhaps training new/unskilled or inexperienced people; requirement to stand by/idle-time making the jobs take longer to complete; added staff & equipment to ramp-up production/ change in labor rate/ unnecessary overtime
• Reflects: Not all units being reported for the reporting period; timing differences; expenses got recorded but the units did not; more complex work; piping not yet energized; possibly higher employee benefits being paid
• Includes: Direct labor hours, mandated unfunded program costs
• Does Not Include: Equipment cost; indirect costs
• Evaluate: Possible culture-driven by self-interest to “pad” perform unnecessary activities
• Note: This is an unfavorable variance

• Implies:

  Many smaller/simpler repairs were done/ more units were produced/ used less equipment than planned/ used more efficient equipment/ methods/ systems

• More Efficient/Less Re-Work:

  Perhaps work was performed by contractors (Company does not claim contractors’ hours)/ use of robots/ automation/ workers were employed by other organization (than the project); better work scheduling/ sequencing/ smaller work crews/ better sharing of resources/ fewer workers required

• Reflects:

  Lower labor/material cost/lower overhead costs/possible machine substitution for manual labor/using same amount of service as planned/accruals/credits/initial estimate may have been too high/important resources may not have been counted/possible staff vacancies/efficient work scheduling

• Includes:

  Direct labor hours, mandated unfunded program costs

• Does Not Include:

  Equipment cost; indirect costs

• Implies:

  Many smaller/simpler repairs were done/ more units were produced/ used less equipment than planned/ used more efficient equipment/ methods/ systems

• More Efficient/Less Re-Work:

  Perhaps work was performed by contractors (Company does not claim contractors’ hours)/ use of robots/ automation/ workers were employed by other organization (than the project); better work scheduling/ sequencing/ smaller work crews/ better sharing of resources/ fewer workers required

• Reflects:

  Lower labor/material cost/lower overhead costs/possible machine substitution for manual labor/using same amount of service as planned/accruals/credits/initial estimate may have been too high/important resources may not have been counted/possible staff vacancies/efficient work scheduling

• Includes:

  Direct labor hours, mandated unfunded program costs

• Does Not Include:

  Equipment cost; indirect costs

• Implies:

  A lower workload/less complexity/less re-work/used fewer hours than anticipated/ improved training/ new machinery or technology/ automation/ higher quality of materials/ more experienced workers

• More Efficient Workers:

  Ahead of schedule/ better training; better work scheduling/ sequencing

• Evaluates:

  Are paying the correct labor rate? Are “shortcuts” being employed (corners (safety) being cut?) Is the standard properly set? Are too many workers in the work pool?

• Reflects:

  More productive labor, less complexity, favorable labor cost

• Includes:

  Material cost and all relevant time measures (e.g., travel time)

• Does Not Include:

  Overhead

• Note:

  This could be a favorable variance (after evaluation)

 

Note: Please associate this slide with the Unit Cost Analysis Chart