Citation:

Aneesh Upasanamandiram Baladevan, 2026. "Value Engineering Strategies for Cost Optimization in Heavy Duty Trucks and Buses", ESP Journal of Engineering & Technology Advancements  6(2): 57-66.

Abstract:

Value engineering has become a core strategic tool for cost optimization in heavy-duty trucks and buses, as commercial vehicle development is shaped by demanding payload requirements, durability expectations, safety regulations, fuel-economy targets, and increasing pressure related to emissions compliance and electrification. Within that environment, cost reduction is no longer an isolated exercise of price reduction; instead, it must be pursued through process discipline, rationalizing platforms, modular architecture, lightweight structural redesign, life-cycle costing, simplification of manufacturing, and operation optimization using data. This paper reviews the academic literature covering value engineering strategies applied in heavy-duty trucks and buses, design-to-cost logic, target costing, modular product architecture, structural optimization, life-cycle inventory and cost evaluation, electrified powertrain economics, and maintenance-focused decision models. Key themes throughout the literature suggest that the most effective cost optimization approaches in which engineering decisions are associated with the total value of ownership as opposed to the cost of acquisition only. Simultaneously, some gaps continue to be apparent, such as deficient integration of capital and operating expenses, inadequate cross-comparison of diesel and electrified architectures under real operating conditions, and lack of supplier, manufacturing, in-service feedback influences on initial design choices. This remains an important field because future competition in commercial vehicles will depend on reducing costs without compromising safety, reliability, manufacturability, or fleet-level economic performance.

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Keywords:

Cost optimization, Heavy-duty trucks, Life-cycle cost, Modular design, Value engineering.