This communication is based on an original approach linking economical
factors to technical and methodological ones. This work is applied to the
decision process for mix production. This approach is relevant for costing
driving systems. The main interesting point is that the quotation factors
(linked to time indicators for each step of the industrial process) allow the
complete evaluation and control of, on the one hand, the global balance of the
company for a six-month period and, on the other hand, the reference values for
each step of the process cycle of the parts. This approach is based on a
complete numerical traceability and control of the processes (design and
manufacturing of the parts and tools, mass production). This is possible due to
numerical models and to feedback loops for cost indicator analysis at design
and production levels. Quotation is also the base for the design requirements
and for the choice and the configuration of the production process. The
reference values of the quotation generate the base reference parameters of the
process steps and operations. The traceability of real values (real time
consuming, real consumable) is mainly used for a statistic feedback to the
quotation application. The industrial environment is a steel sand casting
company with a wide mix product and the application concerns both design and
manufacturing. The production system is fully automated and integrates
different products at the same time.