Cost calculation is a crucial part of the construction planning process, and we want to be sure that the cost will remain on track even after the delays or any unpredicted cases (such as COVID 19). ALICE Cost Calculation help users to keep eye on their critical resources such as expensive equipment and materials, and make a data-driven decision on time. 

In this article, you will find a detailed description of Consumable and Reusable materials Cost Calculation during the Manage phase. 
 

Consumable 

Consumable materials are costed at the beginning of each task. So in the first example, if we used one consumable material per task, we would incur a consumable cost of : 

(1 x old consumable cost) + (1 x old consumable cost) + (1 x new consumable cost).

Consumable materials do not incur idle time.

Reusable 

Reusable materials are costed once at the beginning of the task corresponding to its first use. New cost is only incurred if additional materials are used. Using the tasks chart above, we can see from the utilization chart how many tasks are using a reusable material at any given time.
At t = 0, we incur a reusable cost of (1 x old reusable cost), and at t = 2 another (1 x old reusable cost)

Green represents the time at which we bring a new material onsite and therefore pay its cost.

After t = 2, we have purchased all the materials needed for the schedule, so later uses will not incur any cost. If we needed a third reusable material after the data date, it would incur another (1 x new reusable cost).

Reusable materials do not incur idle time.