Its aim is to shift the focus from value engineering as a set of routine techniques into value engineering as a powerful thinking methodology.
In these objectives it succeeds taking the reader in a logical and thought provoking manner past the systematic and into the complex structures of perceptions and knowledge.
It is rare to sit and read a book at a single sitting but this is what I found myself doing being intrigued by the developing arguments and well-crafted points.
The author's state that the future for value engineering rests with the development of more rigorous approaches to thinking and decision taking, I believe that they have argued this point succinctly and convincingly.
First it sets the the traditionally technical process of value design in the broder context of the organization.
Secondly, it deals with some of the important theoretical issues concerning the nature of value improvement from a technological point of view.
Thirdly, it pulls together the threads of a disparate literature around key concepts of value and function. Finally, it maps out with examples and cases, the intellectual process of VE and VM.
In sum, the book ought to be of particular interest to practitioners, researchers and students who seek a view of value improvement within a broader intellectual context."
The concepts behind value engineering have been explained in full and they take the reader through the process, tools and techniques in an enlightening way, challenging practitioners, students and researchers of VE to look at the methodology in a different light. They argue that to continue developing, value engineering must go beyond a set of tool and techniques into a methodology that becomes a rational decision support system to support senior management.
I found the chapter on functional analysis particularly informative, and I look forward to debating the arguments raised in the book with the authors when we next meet. I am sure other readers will enjoy the book and will find it difficult to put down.