Desktop modeling as a management tool for budgeting, forecasting, and reporting in an analytical laboratory
Managers are often required to quickly and accurately estimate resource needs. At times, additional work can be absorbed without additional resources. At other times, threshold resource boundaries are exceeded requiring an additional quantum of a specific resource. Cost savings` estimates, resulting from a reduction in efforts, are also increasingly becoming a requirement of today`s managers. The modeling effort described in this paper was designed to estimate instrumentation and manpower resource needs for an analytical laboratory. It was written using only simple spreadsheet software. Analysis can be readily performed with a minimum of input and results obtained in a matter of minutes. This model has been tuned with many years of empirical data yielding a high degree of capability. The model was expanded to meet other needs. It can be used to justify capital expenditure when the ultimate result is cost savings; to examine procedures and operations for efficiency increases; and for reporting and regulatory compliance. This paper demonstrates that accurate and credible estimates of resource needs can be readily obtained with a minimum of effort or specialized knowledge employing only tools that are readily available in today`s business environment.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 102188
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-95-2099; CONF-950787-71; ON: DE95015298; TRN: AHC29524%%68
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 36. annual meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Palm Desert, CA (United States), 9-12 Jul 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COMPUTERS
INFORMATION SCIENCE
MANAGEMENT
LAW
MISCELLANEOUS
LABORATORIES
MANAGEMENT
PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION
PERSONNEL
BUDGETS
FORECASTING
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OPERATING COST
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT