Activity-based costing
The driving force behind activity-based costing (ABC) is that the traditional way of allocating indirect costs by spreading them to products on the basis of direct labour is becoming difficult to manage. While direct labour used to constitute a substantial portion of product costs, today that rarely applies. therefore overhead rates of 500 per cent or more on direct labour are not uncommon. Just a small change in direct labour content would lead to a massive change in product cost.
Cooper and Kaplan(1988) explain the problem by referring to two factories, which we here refer to as Simple and Complex. Both factories produce 1 million ballpoint pens each year; they are the same size and have the same capital equipment. But while Simple produces only blue pens, Complex produces hundreds of colour and style variations in volumes that range form 500 (lavender) to 100,000 (blue) units per year. A visitor would notice many differences between the factories. Complex has far more production support staff to handle the numerous production loading and scheduling challenges, changeovers between colours and styles, and so on. Complex would also have more design change issues, supplier scheduling problems, and outbound warehousing, picking and distribution challenges. There would be much higher levels of idle time, overtime,inventory, rework and scrap because of the difficulty of balancing production and demand across a much wider product range. Because overheads are allocated on the basis of direct labour, blue pens are clobbered with 10 per cent of the much higher Complex overheads. The market price of blue pens is determined by focused factories such as Simple, so the blue pens from Complex appear to be unprofitable. As a result, the management of Complex considers that specialist products such as lavender-which sell at a premium-are the future of the business, and that blue pens are low priority. This strategy further increases overheads and costs, and perpetuates the myth that the unit cost of each pen is the same. Traditional cost systems often understate profits on high-volume products and overstate profits on low-volume, high-variety products. ABC principles would help the management of Complex to make more informed product decisions. The management of Simple has no need for another costing system; the curr ABC recognises that overhead costs do not just happen, but are caused by activities, such as holding products in store. ABC therefore seeks to break the business down into major processes-such as manufacture, storage and distribution-and then break each process into activities. For example, the distribution process would include such activities as picking, loading, transport and delivery. For each of these activities, there must be one cost driver: what is it that drives cost for that activity ? For example, the cost driver for the storage activity may be the volume of a case, whereas the transport activity may be driven by weight. Once we know the cost driver, we need to know how many units of that cost driver are incurred for that activity, and the cost per unit for the cost driver. For example, the cost driver for the transportation activity may be the number of kilometres driven,and therefore cost per kilometre would be the cost per unit of the cost driver. This yields the cost of the activity and, when summed across all of the activities in a process, the total cost of that process.ent one works well for them.
ABC recognises that overhead costs do not just happen, but are caused by activities, such as holding products in store. ABC therefore seeks to break the business down into major processes-such as manufacture, storage and distribution-and then break each process into activities. For example, the distribution process would include such activities as picking, loading, transport and delivery. For each of these activities, there must be one cost driver: what is it that drives cost for that activity ? For example, the cost driver for the storage activity may be the volume of a case, whereas the transport activity may be driven by weight. Once we know the cost driver, we need to know how many units of that cost driver are incurred for that activity, and the cost per unit for the cost driver. For example, the cost driver for the transportation activity may be the number of kilometres driven,and therefore cost per kilometre would be the cost per unit of the cost driver. This yields the cost of the activity and, when summed across all of the activities in a process, the total cost of that process.
ABC is difficult to implement because we need first to understand what the discrete processes are in a business where the existing links between functions are not well understood. There is then the issue of identifying the cost driver,which requires a fresh way of looking at each activity. For example, the cost driver for a warehouse fork-lift operator would be the number of pallets moved. The cost driver for stocking shelves would be the number of pieces that must be stacked in a given time period. A further problem occurs if there is more than one cost driver for a given activity. You are then faced with the same problem as with overhead : on what basis should the cost drivers be weighted? Usually, this problem shows that activities have not been broken down into sufficient detail, and that more analysis is needed. ABC can therefore become resource-intensive to implement.
In spite of the implementation challenges, logistics and ABC go hand in hand (van Damme and van der Zon, 1999). It is a very rational way to analyse costs, and logistics practitioners recognise that providing a service is about managing a sequence of activities. Logistics or supply chain managers are particularly well placed to understand, analyse and apply ABC. They understand business processes and the activities that go with them. Theirs is a cross-functional task. The value chain stares them in the face.
The procedure of determining cost drivers is often considered to be more valuable than the ABC system itself. Activity-based management enables the cost structure of a business to be examined in a new light, allowing anomalies to be resolved and sources of waste highlighted. It may also help in better targeting investment decisions.
ABC example
Komplex GmBH has four production lines, lines, which each operates for 8,000 hours a year. Each line makes a number of products, which are based on size and colour. Many changeovers are therefore required, each incurring set-up and maintenance costs. Traditionally the maintenance costs have been allocated on the basis of machine hours, so each production line is charged equally. This year, the maintenance budget of 1 million has been divided into four, so each line is charged with 250,000.
Sales and marketing are concerned that certain products are losing market share, and this is due to prices relative to the competition. All departments have been instructed to investigate costs and suggest improvements. How can activity-based costing improve this situation? By identifying the cost driver for maintenance, in this case the number of changeovers, costs can be allocated to each production line on this basis. Costs are then matched to the activity that generates them, so avoiding cross-subsidies.
The results are illustrated in Table 3.4. Maintenance costs have now been transferred to the production lines that incur the activity. For example, costs on line A have doubled to 500,000, while costs on line D have reduced to 50,000. ABC in this example has not taken cost out of the process, but has reallocated the costs to give a better understanding of the cost base. Complex is new in a better position to make decisions that affect the cost competitiveness of the product range.
3.3.2 Cost-time profile (CTP)
A key benefit of being able to cost logistics processes is that cost information can be used in conjunction with time information. The synergies of the two can then provide opportunities for identifying activities which create either value or waste. The cost-time profile (CTP) (Bicheno, 2005) is a graph, which plots cumulative time against cumulative cost for a set of discrete activities that together form a process or a supply chain. The CTP utilizes outputs from two sources:
• Activity times: from the time-based process mapping (TBPM) process time recording system (see Chapter 5);
• Activity costs: from a process costing system that is underpinned by activity-based costing.
As discussed earlier, ABC strives to achieve an equitable distribution of overhead costs to activities. Table 3.5 illustrates cumulative time and cost for a process comprising six activities.
Such data can be used to construct a cost-time profile. Bernon ct al.(2003) record the process in terms of time and cost for a poultry product from receipt of live bird to delivery of finished product to the retailer. Overall, the process takes an average of 175 hours to complete. The profile shows areas that consume time and cost within the supply chain, highlighting those for future investigation that could yield savings. For example, distribution accounts for 35 per cent of process time, but only 3 per cent of total cost. Slicing and packaging are more in line, since they account for 25 per cent of total cost and are responsible for 28 per cent of the total process time. Figure 3.9 shows the time-cost profile for this process.
The profile shows that time and cost are not related linearly. Bicheno and Holweg (2008) stresses the importance of interpreting both the horizontal and vertical lines of the CTP:
• Long, horizontal lines tend to occur when there is a relatively small increase in
total cost as a result of an activity that runs over relatively long period of time.
An example is storage of finished product after slicing and packing.
• Steep, vertical lines tend to occur when cost are consumed over relat
Activity-based costing
The driving force behind activity-based costing (ABC) is that the traditional way of allocating indirect costs by spreading them to products on the basis of direct labour is becoming difficult to manage. While direct labour used to constitute a substantial portion of product costs, today that rarely applies. therefore overhead rates of 500 per cent or more on direct labour are not uncommon. Just a small change in direct labour content would lead to a massive change in product cost.
Cooper and Kaplan(1988) explain the problem by referring to two factories, which we here refer to as Simple and Complex. Both factories produce 1 million ballpoint pens each year; they are the same size and have the same capital equipment. But while Simple produces only blue pens, Complex produces hundreds of colour and style variations in volumes that range form 500 (lavender) to 100,000 (blue) units per year. A visitor would notice many differences between the factories. Complex has far more production support staff to handle the numerous production loading and scheduling challenges, changeovers between colours and styles, and so on. Complex would also have more design change issues, supplier scheduling problems, and outbound warehousing, picking and distribution challenges. There would be much higher levels of idle time, overtime,inventory, rework and scrap because of the difficulty of balancing production and demand across a much wider product range. Because overheads are allocated on the basis of direct labour, blue pens are clobbered with 10 per cent of the much higher Complex overheads. The market price of blue pens is determined by focused factories such as Simple, so the blue pens from Complex appear to be unprofitable. As a result, the management of Complex considers that specialist products such as lavender-which sell at a premium-are the future of the business, and that blue pens are low priority. This strategy further increases overheads and costs, and perpetuates the myth that the unit cost of each pen is the same. Traditional cost systems often understate profits on high-volume products and overstate profits on low-volume, high-variety products. ABC principles would help the management of Complex to make more informed product decisions. The management of Simple has no need for another costing system; the curr ABC recognises that overhead costs do not just happen, but are caused by activities, such as holding products in store. ABC therefore seeks to break the business down into major processes-such as manufacture, storage and distribution-and then break each process into activities. For example, the distribution process would include such activities as picking, loading, transport and delivery. For each of these activities, there must be one cost driver: what is it that drives cost for that activity ? For example, the cost driver for the storage activity may be the volume of a case, whereas the transport activity may be driven by weight. Once we know the cost driver, we need to know how many units of that cost driver are incurred for that activity, and the cost per unit for the cost driver. For example, the cost driver for the transportation activity may be the number of kilometres driven,and therefore cost per kilometre would be the cost per unit of the cost driver. This yields the cost of the activity and, when summed across all of the activities in a process, the total cost of that process.ent one works well for them.
ABC recognises that overhead costs do not just happen, but are caused by activities, such as holding products in store. ABC therefore seeks to break the business down into major processes-such as manufacture, storage and distribution-and then break each process into activities. For example, the distribution process would include such activities as picking, loading, transport and delivery. For each of these activities, there must be one cost driver: what is it that drives cost for that activity ? For example, the cost driver for the storage activity may be the volume of a case, whereas the transport activity may be driven by weight. Once we know the cost driver, we need to know how many units of that cost driver are incurred for that activity, and the cost per unit for the cost driver. For example, the cost driver for the transportation activity may be the number of kilometres driven,and therefore cost per kilometre would be the cost per unit of the cost driver. This yields the cost of the activity and, when summed across all of the activities in a process, the total cost of that process.
ABC is difficult to implement because we need first to understand what the discrete processes are in a business where the existing links between functions are not well understood. There is then the issue of identifying the cost driver,which requires a fresh way of looking at each activity. For example, the cost driver for a warehouse fork-lift operator would be the number of pallets moved. The cost driver for stocking shelves would be the number of pieces that must be stacked in a given time period. A further problem occurs if there is more than one cost driver for a given activity. You are then faced with the same problem as with overhead : on what basis should the cost drivers be weighted? Usually, this problem shows that activities have not been broken down into sufficient detail, and that more analysis is needed. ABC can therefore become resource-intensive to implement.
In spite of the implementation challenges, logistics and ABC go hand in hand (van Damme and van der Zon, 1999). It is a very rational way to analyse costs, and logistics practitioners recognise that providing a service is about managing a sequence of activities. Logistics or supply chain managers are particularly well placed to understand, analyse and apply ABC. They understand business processes and the activities that go with them. Theirs is a cross-functional task. The value chain stares them in the face.
The procedure of determining cost drivers is often considered to be more valuable than the ABC system itself. Activity-based management enables the cost structure of a business to be examined in a new light, allowing anomalies to be resolved and sources of waste highlighted. It may also help in better targeting investment decisions.
ABC example
Komplex GmBH has four production lines, lines, which each operates for 8,000 hours a year. Each line makes a number of products, which are based on size and colour. Many changeovers are therefore required, each incurring set-up and maintenance costs. Traditionally the maintenance costs have been allocated on the basis of machine hours, so each production line is charged equally. This year, the maintenance budget of 1 million has been divided into four, so each line is charged with 250,000.
Sales and marketing are concerned that certain products are losing market share, and this is due to prices relative to the competition. All departments have been instructed to investigate costs and suggest improvements. How can activity-based costing improve this situation? By identifying the cost driver for maintenance, in this case the number of changeovers, costs can be allocated to each production line on this basis. Costs are then matched to the activity that generates them, so avoiding cross-subsidies.
The results are illustrated in Table 3.4. Maintenance costs have now been transferred to the production lines that incur the activity. For example, costs on line A have doubled to 500,000, while costs on line D have reduced to 50,000. ABC in this example has not taken cost out of the process, but has reallocated the costs to give a better understanding of the cost base. Complex is new in a better position to make decisions that affect the cost competitiveness of the product range.
3.3.2 Cost-time profile (CTP)
A key benefit of being able to cost logistics processes is that cost information can be used in conjunction with time information. The synergies of the two can then provide opportunities for identifying activities which create either value or waste. The cost-time profile (CTP) (Bicheno, 2005) is a graph, which plots cumulative time against cumulative cost for a set of discrete activities that together form a process or a supply chain. The CTP utilizes outputs from two sources:
• Activity times: from the time-based process mapping (TBPM) process time recording system (see Chapter 5);
• Activity costs: from a process costing system that is underpinned by activity-based costing.
As discussed earlier, ABC strives to achieve an equitable distribution of overhead costs to activities. Table 3.5 illustrates cumulative time and cost for a process comprising six activities.
Such data can be used to construct a cost-time profile. Bernon ct al.(2003) record the process in terms of time and cost for a poultry product from receipt of live bird to delivery of finished product to the retailer. Overall, the process takes an average of 175 hours to complete. The profile shows areas that consume time and cost within the supply chain, highlighting those for future investigation that could yield savings. For example, distribution accounts for 35 per cent of process time, but only 3 per cent of total cost. Slicing and packaging are more in line, since they account for 25 per cent of total cost and are responsible for 28 per cent of the total process time. Figure 3.9 shows the time-cost profile for this process.
The profile shows that time and cost are not related linearly. Bicheno and Holweg (2008) stresses the importance of interpreting both the horizontal and vertical lines of the CTP:
• Long, horizontal lines tend to occur when there is a relatively small increase in
total cost as a result of an activity that runs over relatively long period of time.
An example is storage of finished product after slicing and packing.
• Steep, vertical lines tend to occur when cost are consumed over relat
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