Last week Hiller Associates published an article on Should-cost in one of the leading online magazines for manufacturing companies, IndustryWeek.com.   Below is a synopsis  of the article.  However, you may want to just read the article here:

Your Should-cost Number is Wrong, But It Doesn’t Matter

Should cost is not perfect, but it does not matter, because its purpose is to be a leverage tool to improve negotiated cost, regardless of the should-cost number’s absolute accuracy.

• What is should cost?
• Methods of should cost?
• Uses of should cost, specifically to reduce the price of products one buys
• No one expected Peter Lynch to achieve his absolute return predications for a stock
• How to use should cost as pricing pressure