For most machinery and equipment owners, the question is not if to "Value Engineer" but only when to and they wait for engineers or users to ask for it. However, the precarious situation is not that engineers have to prove to the bean counters that investment needs to be made in reducing the cost or increasing the value of our machinery, but to prove to themselves that there is an immediate need to increase the intrinsic value.
The most common inhibitors to value engineering in my opinion can be the following:

1. ROI: I will not be able to justify the investment in such tight economic situations, in such a proposition that has lot of uncertainties in the outcome.
2. Time: Our engineers have their hands full with day-to-day engineering activities.
3. Denial 1: No, my machine's value cannot be increased without modifying its functionality.
4. Denial 2: There can be nothing that we have not tried before.

Why do you think we normally drag our feet when it comes to Value Engineering?