Most of our client work follows the same method, and until now that method was something we explained in meetings rather than something you could read. DARIN is it: a structured cost-optimization methodology that combines automated technical-data extraction, should-cost calculation and scenario analysis to identify and quantify five cost levers for manufactured parts. It is not a fourth product to buy. PartIQ reads your technical documents, COVALYZE Analytics connects them with your commercial data, and DARIN is the method applied on top.
The calculation runs from the ground up rather than as a discount on last year’s price: material, machine time, labour time, setup time, and the overhead factor of the producing country. What comes out is a target price, the number the part is allowed to cost. Five levers then test where that cost can come down, each quantified separately, so you can see which part of the cost stack a reduction actually comes out of.
Design changes material or weight before anything is released. Automate picks the process and machine that fit the part instead of the most expensive one available. Re-locate calculates what the same part costs in another country from its own process chain. Identify replaces a country average with a specific plant’s rates, which separates suppliers that manufacture cheaply from suppliers that only price that way. Negotiate bundles quantities and spreads setup cost, and it is the one lever that costs nothing in quality or delivery.
On timing: a single documented part with a known process (sheet metal, turned and milled parts, coating) gets a first calculation within one business day, because those process models are already in place. A new or unusual manufacturing process needs model setup and review, typically one additional day, after which it stays available for the next part of that type. A full commodity group of up to 200 parts takes approximately two weeks end to end.
Four subpages go deeper on each part of the method:
- Should-cost calculation covers drawing attributes, the process chain, time and rate per step, setup allocation and country factors, with every assumption traceable.
- Design-to-cost and process optimization prices what a material, tolerance or process decision costs, before design freeze.
- Global sourcing and supplier cost analysis works through the Re-locate and Identify levers, including plant-level rates.
- Target prices for supplier negotiations turns the calculation into a negotiation package, with an honest line between identified and realised savings.
Across COVALYZE Fast Track and platform engagements we have analyzed over €1 billion of spend in 250+ categories, at an average identified savings potential of 6.5%.*
*Average savings potential identified in COVALYZE Fast Track and platform engagements since 2019. Identified potential is not the same as realised savings — actual results vary by commodity, supplier base, quantity structure and data quality.
