DARIN · COST OPTIMIZATION METHODOLOGY
DARIN shows how much — per part, in euros, with the calculation behind it. Five levers, each one its own number, so you can see not just that a price can come down but where.
WHAT DARIN DELIVERS
SOUND FAMILIAR?
You can compare offers against each other and against last year. What you cannot see is what the part should cost — so a price increase either gets accepted or argued about, but never checked.
By the time the quotation arrives, the design is frozen and the supplier is nominated. The decisions that set most of the cost — material, tolerances, process, quantity — were made when nobody could price them.
Engineering, procurement and the plant each hold part of the cost picture, in different files. Without one shared calculation, the discussion is about whose number is right instead of what to do.
What DARIN is
DARIN is COVALYZE’s structured cost-optimization methodology. It combines automated technical-data extraction, should-cost calculation and scenario analysis to identify and quantify five cost levers for manufactured parts. You can use it through a managed assessment, a Fast Track commodity project, or continuously inside COVALYZE Analytics.
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: build the should-cost from the bottom up, then test five places where that cost can come down.
The calculation runs from the ground up rather than as a discount on last year's price: material, machine, labour and setup time, plus the overhead factor of the producing country. What comes out is a target price — the number the part is allowed to cost.
Select a lever to see what it attacks
What a lever changes in the calculation, and what that looks like on a real part — so you can see which one is worth the effort here and which one is not. The values shown are examples from the FTE-0001 sheet-metal part in the DARIN calculator.
D A different material or less weight — priced before anything is released.
What changes Material and weight
Example Steel at 2.12 €/kg and 13.6 kg against aluminium at 4.35 €/kg and 4.7 kg — on material alone, the aluminium version is cheaper.
How we calculate it
A The process and machine that fit the part — not the most expensive one available.
What changes Process route and machine-hour rate
Example Fiber laser at 38.10 €/h and 5,000 mm/min against a mechanical shear at 13.00 €/h and 7,000 mm/min.
How we calculate it
R What the same part costs in another country — as a calculation, not a guess.
What changes Labour, energy and overhead per country
Example Labour rate 32 €/h in Germany · 12 €/h Poland · 8 €/h China · 28 €/h United States.
How we calculate it
I Which supplier actually manufactures the part cheaply — and which one only prices it that way.
What changes The individual plant’s rates instead of a country average
Example The real machine and labour rates of the supplying plant replace the flat country assumption.
How we calculate it
N Bundle quantities, spread setup cost — the lever that costs nothing in quality or delivery.
What changes Order quantity and setup-cost allocation
Example Setup time is spread across more pieces, so the piece price falls without touching the part itself.
How we calculate itExample values from the FTE-0001 sheet-metal part in the DARIN calculator. An example, not a commitment. 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.
The point is not a single figure in a slide. You get the breakdown, the assumptions, the scenarios per lever and a priority list — so your team can check the calculation, argue with it, and use it.
FTE-0001 is a laser-cut and bent sheet-metal bracket: cut, bent, deburred and coated. Below is what the calculation compares for each lever — and what it does to the piece price. Every value is an example from the DARIN calculator, not a commitment.
| Lever | Baseline | Alternative | Effect on the piece price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Material and weight | Steel · 2.12 €/kg · 13.6 kg | Aluminium · 4.35 €/kg · 4.7 kg | On material alone the aluminium version comes out lower: two thirds less weight outweighs the higher price per kilo. |
| Automate Cutting process and machine rate | Fiber laser · 38.10 €/h · 5,000 mm/min | Mechanical shear · 13.00 €/h · 7,000 mm/min | A few euros on this part. Cutting is a small share of a price that is dominated by material — so this is not where the effort belongs here. |
| Re-locate Country cost structure | Germany · labour 32 €/h | Poland · labour 12 €/h | 41 € in Germany against 28 € in Poland — a double-digit percentage on this part. |
| Identify Whose rates the calculation uses | Country-average machine and labour rates | The actual rates of the supplying plant | Shows whether a price reflects what that plant's cost structure implies — or something above it. |
| Negotiate Order quantity and setup allocation | Current order quantity | Quantity bundled across sites and periods | The strongest lever on this part, and the one that costs nothing in quality or delivery reliability. Setup time simply spreads across more pieces. |
Example values from the FTE-0001 sheet-metal part in the DARIN calculator. An example, not a commitment. 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.
Two views from the DARIN application: the spend portfolio grouped into similar-part clusters, and the same part costed for several production countries down to energy and CO₂. One tells you where to look, the other what to do about it.
Screenshots from a demonstration tenant. Figures depend on the parts, quantities and rates in your own data.
A few more client results from the case library, each driven by the same markdown-based format.
Quantity as the dominant cost driver in the energy-sector case, design parameters in the forklift-carriage case, country and process scenarios in the private-equity case. 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.
One part is a calculation. A whole commodity group is a two-week Fast Track. We keep those two promises separate on purpose.
Sheet metal, turned and milled parts, coating: these process models are already in place, so the calculation starts from your drawing.
We set up the process with times, machine rates and setup logic — typically one additional day. It then stays available, so the next part of that type is a calculation again.
Drawing extraction, data preparation and a results walkthrough for a whole commodity group — this is the fixed-scope Fast Track.
Being explicit about the edges makes the number more useful, not less. DARIN quantifies potential and prepares the evidence; the decisions, approvals and supplier agreements stay yours.
Start with one part, buy a commodity group as a fixed-scope project, or run the method continuously in your own team.
One part · known process · one business day
Send one drawing with its current price and quantities. You get the should-cost breakdown for that part, the levers that apply to it, and a target price you can put in front of a supplier.
One commodity group · up to 200 parts · two weeks
The fixed-scope way to buy the DARIN methodology. We extract your drawings, link them to spend data and deliver target prices, savings potential and negotiation evidence for a whole commodity group.
All commodities · platform access · ongoing
DARIN inside COVALYZE Analytics, used by your own team. Cost models stay live, new drawings flow in through PartIQ, and engineering, procurement and plants work from the same numbers.
Fast Track pricing as published on the offer page. Part Check scope is agreed in the scoping call.
The same method, entered from four different questions.
The method itself: from drawing to process chain to cost per step — every rate and assumption open.
The Negotiate lever, and how five levers become one negotiation package.
Design and Automate: what a material, tolerance or process decision costs — before it is released.
Re-locate and Identify: country cost structures, plant rates, and where a location change is a calculation.
We calculate a part or a commodity group from the ground up and show the savings potential per part and per lever — with every assumption on the table.
