Design requirements change and cost impact analysis in airplane structures

Practices in the aerospace sector demand suppliers agreeing with the airplane manufacturer in a particular fixed price contract for a system or component. To get a fair agreement based on a clear visibility of the economical impact of requirements change is a challenge. The reasons are: the wide range of requirements that need to be satisfied, the nature of the design process itself, the compliance with the airworthiness regulations, and the information available at that stage. This paper presents a matrix-based methodology partially inspired on axiomatic design principles, to address the cost impact analysis for change in requirements in airframes. It aims to formalize knowledge, a better understanding and shared view of requirements, and explicit requirements change cost impact understanding.