Costs H Advantages R It example essay topic

CM 3223 Management Accounting Week 10 b V Emerging Issues in Management Accounting World class manufacturing World class manufacturing can be taken to have four key elements. h The achievement of 100% quality h Just-in-time manufacturing h Managing people (multi-skilling, teamwork, empowerment) h Customer responsiveness (knowing their requirements, supplying on time and responding to changes in needs) Dedicated cell production Cellular manufacturing involves a U-shaped flow along which are arranged a number of different machines that are used to make products with similar machining requirements. The machines are operated by multi-skilled workers who can drill, saw, paint, or whatever, as required. This approach combines the flexibility of the functional layout (general drilling department, general sawing department and so on) with the speed and productivity of product-based layouts, where each type of product has its own dedicated machines. Dedicated cell production may help to save costs in a number of ways. h Lower stocks of finished goods, meaning lower holding costs and opportunities for alternative uses of space h Rapid response to changes in demand (preserving goodwill) h Reduced material- and equipment-handling costs h Reduced staff numbers and high motivation h Reduced maintenance costs (multi-skilled workers can do it in idle moments) h Less scrap if linked to a training / TQM programme Advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) AMT is an expression encompassing, in general, the following. h Computer-aided design (CAD) h Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) R Robots R Computer numerical control (CNC) machines R Automated guided vehicles (AGV) R Automated storage and retrieval systems (A SRS) h Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) h Advances in production management R Materials requirement planning (MRP I) R Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) R Optimised production technology (OPT) R Just-in-time (JIT) h Total quality management (TQM) Organising workflows JIT is a technique for the organisation of work flows to allow rapid, high quality, flexible production whilst minimising manufacturing waste and stock levels h Just-in-time production is production driven by demand for finished goods: each component is produced only when needed for the next stage h Just-in-time purchasing is matching receipt of material closely with usage JIT and dedicated cell production go hand in hand: you might see these ideas going collectively under the heading lean manufacturing. Stock control The traditional EOQ approach to stock control attempts to determine an optimal level of stock taking into account demand (d) in the period, ordering costs (c) and stock holding costs (h). h The EOQ formula is EOQ = }2 cd h h This approach assumes that some stock holding is inevitable, and that demand and holding costs are constant and can be readily forecast The JIT approach to stock control is quite different in that it aims not to hold stocks at all. Materials are purchased only at the time when they are needed.

This requires short lead times (that is, quick delivery) and excellent relations with suppliers. EOQ vs. JIT h EOQ (or a less complex traditional approach) is most suitable for businesses which need to be able to deliver their finished goods or services extremely quickly after an order is placed and which cannot easily predict demand (such as hospitals and emergency services) h JIT would be particularly appropriate for, say, a jobbing firm producing specialised machines to order h Most businesses that do not need to be able to deliver instantaneously should be able to operate JIT to some extent, so long as reliable suppliers can be found Benefits and costs of JIT The benefits should be starting to sound familiar. h Flexibility Quick response to demand h Product variety Stock less production h Empowerment h Fast set-ups h Frees up space High quality / less scrap However, there are drawbacks. h Suppliers are likely to want to charge a premium price for guaranteed quality and time of delivery h The reliability of suppliers needs to be thoroughly checked h Production planning may be more difficult (and more expensive to administer) because it will need to be more precise h Production quickly grinds to a halt if suppliers default Implications for MAIS There will be no need for an elaborate cost accounting system of stores requisitions, materials transfer notes and so on. h A system to provide non-financial performance measures (such as % of quality control rejects) will be required h A system for EDI with customers and suppliers will be needed h Cost collection procedures can be simplified (for example, backflush accounting could be introduced) h Traditional variance analysis will be unsuitable h Actual rather than standard cost will be stressed Activity Based Costing Activity Based Management Throughput accounting The aim of modern manufacturing approaches is to match production resources with the demand for them so that there are no constraints (bottleneck resources). The throughput philosophy entails the identification and elimination of these bottleneck resources. h If it cannot be eliminated (by rearrangement of existing resources / buying in / new equipment), the bottleneck resource should be used to 100% of its availability h To avoid the build-up of WIP, production must be limited to the capacity of the bottleneck resource Production priority is given to the products best able to generate throughput and hence it is given to those products that maximise throughput per unit of bottleneck resource. Products should be ranked according to throughput accounting (TA) ratio = return per factory hour i cost per factory hour where sales revenue V material cost return per factory hour = Time on key (or bottleneck) resource Total Factory Costs (TFC) (all costs except material) and cost per factory hour = total time available on bottleneck resource If the TA ratio is greater than 1, the product is profitable. Overhead (TFC) should be charged to a product according to the products usage of the bottleneck resource. std minutes of budgeted TFC Overhead th / put (usage offer minute of cost per unit = bottleneckxbottleneck resource) resource Total product cost = material cost per unit + o / hd cost per unit A product which makes little or no use of a bottleneck resource will have little or no overhead attributed to it. h Criticisms R It is too short term as all costs other than direct material are regarded as fixed R It concentrates on direct material cost and does not control other costs h Advantages R It encourages an attitude of getting it right first time R It is suitable for an AMT environment as it focuses on inventory reduction and reduces response time to customer demand Backflush accounting In a JIT environment inventories are likely to be low. The bulk of manufacturing costs should be costs of sale and so inventory valuation can be simplified.

Backflush accounting is a simplified standard costing system for allocating costs between stocks and cost of goods sold. It attempts to eliminate detailed accounting transactions. h There is no WIP account h Trigger points determine when entries are made in the accounting system R Completion of good units of finished product R Sale of finished product R Purchase of raw materials h It is less accurate than traditional costing systems, because the same degree of accuracy is not needed.