Project Delivery Options

Overview

The service offering and the setup for project delivery can be tailored to suit the needs of each customer.

Fixed scope – Fixed Budget

For projects that have well defined written requirements, Simplicity AI are usually able to provide a fixed-price, fixed-scope quotation. This benefits customers by providing a fixed project budget, lowering their financial risk and shifting time management responsibility to Simplicity AI.

The fixed price quotation process usually begins with an initial technical discussion with the customer, followed by the submission of requirements documentation to Simplicity AI. The engineering team will review the documentation and will request any clarification on the scope of work, that is required. Once Simplicity AI are happy that the scope of the work has been clearly defined, a proposal or quotation with a fixed price can be generated.

If a customer does not have well defined written requirements documentation, but requires a fixed-price, fixed-scope quotation, Simplicity AI may be able to provide assistance through its consulting services. This work could range from minor elaboration of existing documentation, through to a large scale requirements capture and recording activity.

Projects that revolve around activities that are well defined and documented are usually most suited for delivery as a fixed-price project. A common example might be development of an ATE system for a mature product, where the requirements for testing the UUT are fully defined in the PAT document.

Time and Materials

If the requirements of a project are not well documented, but development needs to commence quickly, it can be operated on a time and materials basis. This benefits customers by not requiring them to use resource to generate extensive documentation and allowing requirements to change during development.

For time and materials projects Simplicity AI will generate a quotation for fixed blocks of engineering time, and require a purchase order to be submitted before commencement of each time block. The engineering team maintain a log of how much time from a block is consumed, which is then invoiced monthly. This working method is popular with customers, as it allows projects to operate in a flexible manor, whilst keeping control of maximum costs.

Projects that revolve around activities that are dynamic are well suited for delivery on a time and materials basis. An common example might be a project that involves considerable research and development activity.

Support Services

Support services will typically benefit from a guaranteed response time element, allowing customers to rapidly bring in expertise to solve show-stoppers in time sensitive projects, or ensure maximum equipment availability in production systems. Support maybe ordered on an annual, or ad-hoc basis depending on particular customer requirements. Quotations will specify a maximum amount of engineering time that is included, as well as the guaranteed response time.