SPCEA Celebrates Its One-Year Anniversary
I am pleased to share with you that the Society of Product Cost Engineering & Analytics (SPCEA) turns one year old today !! SPCEA was incorporated as a non-profit professional society within the State of Georgia on March 31, 2020 – and, one year later, we’re still growing at an incredible rate. THANK YOU for your support – without you, SPCEA would not exist.
SPCEA is the only non-profit professional society dedicated to promoting awareness and knowledge of cost engineering and analytics in the manufacturing of products, thereby enabling improved industry profitability and increased employment that result in the betterment of society. Our vision is to be the prominent global hub of cost engineering and analytics knowledge by establishing foundational standards, providing education and certification, and driving thought leadership within manufacturing industries. SPCEA is not limited to “should cost engineering” methodology – rather, our goal is to be an inclusive community of professionals (technical as well as commercial) who use various cost analysis tools and techniques within manufacturing. We welcome design engineers, purchasing professionals, finance professionals, etc. as well as cost engineers !! An engineering degree is not required to be part of SPCEA.
Background
Chris Domanski and I first met at Ford Motor Company’s “Cost Optimization” department in 2002. Over time, our careers took us in different directions, but we later reconnected at an automotive cost engineering conference in Detroit during 2019 where we were both presenters. During one of the breaks at the conference, Chris and I reflected on some of the comments heard during that morning’s discussions – of “how cost engineering needs to be recognized as a formal discipline”, of how “there needs to be a forum for sharing of best practices, of how “there needs to be standardization and certification”, etc. As we conversed, it became apparent to both of us that these comments defined the need for a professional society.
At first, it was not our intention to start a professional society from the ground up. A casual Google search revealed many organizations with “cost engineering” in their name – hence, Chris and I thought that there MUST be a existing society that would meet these needs. As we did our investigation, we found many fine organizations that focus on government projects, construction , military, etc. – but could not find a true society that was devoted to the needs of cost engineers (and other cost professionals) within the manufacturing space. With this in mind, we decided to start a professional society based upon three key criteria:
- The Society should focus on the needs of cost professionals within manufacturing industries. It should have representation from various manufacturing industries and enable the sharing of best practices between them.
- The Society should be a stand-alone, independent entity. The Society should be governed by a world-class board of directors consisting of leaders and experts associated with the profession – thereby allowing a broad spectrum of practices and methodologies to be shared and advanced. It should not be led by a single owner whose opinion would outweigh those of others. The Society’s sole purpose should be to advance the cost engineering profession – not one person’s agenda.
- The Society should be structured as a non-profit organization. Like all legitimate professional societies, we wanted our new society to be governed by the mission-motive – NOT the profit-motive. As a 501(c)(6), entity, all funds must be used to support the core mission – by law.
The Society of Product Cost Engineering & Analytics is born !!
The first part of SPCEA’s life was focused on assembling the organization and establishing the necessary infrastructure. Like everyone, we struggled with the challenges of COVID. Then, in August 2020, SPCEA went public with the launch of our website. In the short time since then, we have grown by leaps and bounds. Chris and I continue to be amazed at the level of support for our mission. Again – THANK YOU for your support !!
Less than one year later, SPCEA has over 5500 professionals in our LinkedIn group and we enjoy the support of 11 corporate sponsors – including major manufacturers such as General Motors, General Electric Appliances, and Dell Technologies. We are recognized as the professional society for cost engineering by other global professional societies and we offer our members an impressive array of benefits that include (but are not limited to) on-line training, career/employment assistance, technical resources, and discounts on products/services.
2021 is already proving to be an exciting year !! Please bookmark our website (https://spcea.org/) and watch our LinkedIn site for more announcements. We have several more training courses and a certification program being planned. We are also planning our first professional conference later in the year.
Join SPCEA today !!
Best wishes,
Jeff Miller
Secretary / Treasurer – SPCEA