when performing value engineering analysts must often consider how to define value after all one customer s perception of a product may be very compared to another customer based on their assigned value of the good in general there are four primary types of value recognized by value engineering 
use value is the primary type of value and it is determined by the attributes of the good 3 these attributes define what the product is able to do how it is used and what its purpose is this heavily ties to product differentiation where consumers can only derive value from a specific good without competitors the use value of a product is the primary purpose of value engineering without a use value consumers would not initially purchase the good for instance if a type of shoe did not adequately protect someone s feet or make it so they could walk down the street the shoe has little to no use value without use value products will ultimately fail because they serve no purpose assuming we have a good generating use value it s now time to consider how it takes to make that good 3 let s assume the shoes from above are tremendous for hiking rugged wear and waterproof protection this means the shoes may require experienced labor to craft specifically treated raw materials for its production and premium quality control for consumer safety in this example all of the variables mentioned above represent different cost variables with different values a consumer may value the shoes at 50 pair if the company determines its cost value is 75 pair the company must assess how to rebalance the equation alternatively charging a customer prices too high will likely yield negative cost value while the use value describes the physical benefit of a product consumers may also experience intrinsic value that often extends beyond what the product is 3 for example should the shoe above come from nike consumers may be willing to pay higher premium for the shoe because of the added esteem benefit of the brand recognition though esteem value is often positive and associated with brand recognition it can also be negative and correlated to brand dissonance this is often related to the target consumer of the product for example low cost budget conscious consumers may have negative esteem value when considering apple s innovative higher cost product line the last and smallest component of value relates to a product s ability to be exchanged 3 with the introduction of international shipping and supply chain analytics it is now becoming easier for almost any consumer to receive any product in a reasonable amount of time still a value engineer must how to facilitate the distribution of a product the physical characteristics of a product and other attributions that make it so the good can easily be bought or traded should consumers find it very difficult to buy or receive the good value may be lost or destroyed there are countless ways to define or categorize customer value in reality value engineering encompasses every value perceived or received by a customer whether it conforms to the four primary types above value engineering toolsdifferent companies can choose what tools they want to use not all tools listed below need to be used in every value engineering situation however these are the most common techniques companies leverage when performing value engineering value engineering vs value analysiswhile value engineering is the technique often used before a product has been fabricated value analysis is the technique used to analyze an existing product the goal of value analysis is often to review an existing set of costs and benefits with the intention of enhancing its value while value engineering occurs earlier to prevent value loss value analysis occurs after the fact and may be used to remediate product deficiencies value engineering is generally used to aid manufacturing while value analysis may sometimes be used more heavily in the business or sales department though the two terms may often be used interchangeably value engineering is the practice of preventing unnecessary costs or deficient value while value analysis is the practice of eliminating costs or negative value components changes made in response to value analysis may be brought about during different stages of a product s life span while value engineering only occurs at the initial product stage limitations of value engineeringthe value engineering process involves a detailed approach to analyzing functions teams must gather and assess extensive data hold numerous meetings to brainstorm and evaluate alternatives and meticulously document their findings and decisions this substantial initial time investment pulls valuable resources without the guarantee that products or processes will be re engineered with success value engineering efforts can sometimes prioritize immediate cost reductions over long term value this short term focus may lead to decisions that save money initially but result in higher costs or lower performance over the product s or system s lifecycle for instance choosing cheaper materials to reduce upfront costs might lead to increased maintenance or replacement costs in the future teams need to balance short term implications with long term value while reducing costs is a primary goal of value engineering an excessive focus on cost cutting can lead to unintended consequences as well for example eliminating certain features to save money might diminish the product s appeal or performance ultimately negatively impacting the cost benefit analysis the same could somewhat be said about engineering in some cases value engineering can lead to over engineering where the pursuit of optimization results in overly complex solutions this complexity can ultimately increase costs and complicate implementation even when trying to capture very little value last value engineering is not universally applicable to all projects some projects may have rigid specifications regulatory requirements or client preferences that limit the scope for applying value engineering principles projects in highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals or aerospace may have strict compliance requirements companies may also simply lack the internal resources or headcount with the necessary skill sets to perform the analysis needed to re engineer products example of value engineeringthe initial design for the golden gate bridge faced significant challenges including spanning a 4 200 foot wide strait with strong ocean currents and high winds however financial resources were limited due to the great depression and initial cost estimates were prohibitively high chief engineer joseph strauss and his team led the value engineering process striving to reduce costs without compromising safety or performance strauss and his team focused on essential functions such as providing a safe durable and efficient means of transportation across the strait they substituted expensive materials with high strength silicon steel simplified the design by eliminating unnecessary elements and employed innovative construction techniques pre fabrication of components off site further reduced labor costs and construction time through these value engineering efforts the final cost of the golden gate bridge was significantly reduced to approximately 35 million from the original budget of 100 million the bridge met all functional requirements i e millions of travelers have successfully capitalized on the value of the bridge s transportation capability 45