The purpose of this research was to quantify the impact of the log variables: length, grade, and scaling diameter, on the cost of producing hardwood lumber, using the activity-based costing technique. The usual technique of calculating hardwood lumber product costs is based upon traditional cost accounting, where manufacturing costs are allocated to the products based upon the volume of each product that is produced. With the traditional cost accounting procedure, the variation in the resources used to process the logs is not taken into consideration. As a result, when the cost to manufacture the products is subtracted from the market value of the products, the resulting profit levels of the products may not be truly representative of the actual resources consumed in manufacturing the product. Using discrete-event simulation, two hardwood sawmills were modeled and a series of experiments were conducted which would not have been feasible to conduct on the mill floors. Results from the simulation experiments illustrated that the activity-based and traditional cost accounting techniques allocated different amounts of manufacturing costs to the products. The largest difference between the two cost accounting techniques was found to be the amount of raw material costs allocated to the products. For one of the sawmills modeled, log grade was identified as having the greatest influence on determining product costs and total manufacturing costs. Results from the model of the second sawmill however demonstrated that log diameter had a greater impact on determining product costs and total manufacturing costs. The commonality of the results from the two simulation models was that the differences in the volume of lumber produced, between the logs that were studied, was a critical component in determining which log parameter had the most effect on changing the dynamics of the sawmill system. To enable hardwood managers a more precise method of allocating raw material costs to the lumber products, a methodology was developed that uses the principles of activity-based costing to allocate raw material costs. The proposed methodology, termed the lumber yield method, uses lumber yield values from logs with similar characteristics to allocate raw material costs to the lumber products. Analysis of the output from the simulation models illustrated that with the lumber yield method, the amount of raw material costs allocated to the products was not significantly different than the amount allocated by the activity-based costing method. The calculated raw material costs of the products were however, found to be significantly different between the lumber yield method and the traditional volume costing method. / Ph. D.

Product Costing in the Swedish Engineering Industry - a survey  This thesis is about product costing in the Swedish engineering industry. The thesis is empirical and consists of two studies, one descriptive and one explanatory study. The purpose of the descriptive study has been to make a survey of which product costing methods are used, which elements of product costing that are considered to be problematic and what companies spend time on related to product costing. The purpose of the explanatory study has been to compare and analyze the correspondence between literature and practice regarding design aspects of product costing, by using a contingency theoretical approach. The research method that has been used to collect data has been an e-mail survey. In the 90s, a dissertation was written by Urban Ask and Christian Ax in the area, but since then no major survey has been made either in Sweden or in any other country. Since the 1990s, the production environment has been developed and new production strategies have been implemented, which has contributed to new perspectives on product costing. The results of the descriptive study show that the recommendations given in "Enhetliga principer för självkostnadsberäkningar" (EP) in 1936 still have a large impact on Swedish product costing practices. On the other hand, a trend can be noted which indicates that companies choose to work with new product costing systems such as target costing, activity based costing, value stream costing and kaizen costing. With regard to the allocation of indirect costs, the results show that the companies focus on ensuring that the allocation takes place in an appropriate manner. The outcome of the results shows that the distribution of indirect costs is differentiated, in the majority of cases a number of allocation bases, overhead components and cost centers are used. The product costing elements that are perceived to be most problematic to perform in practice are to: determine causal relationships, determine what deviations from standards are due to and calculate costs for future products. Overall the findings in the descriptive study indicate on a technically speaking well-developed Swedish costing practice. The explanatory study lends support to the hypotheses that the design of cost systems depends on contingency factors. Strongest support for the hypotheses was found between two factors (production strategies and company size) and cost system aspects. Weaker support was found between six other factors (manufacturing complexity, number of products, kind of product, the degree of automation, high- vs low-tech companies and the degree of competition) and cost system aspects. Overall the findings in the explanatory study indicate that companies do not shape their product costing according to the recommendations made in the literature.

Allocating the right amount of indirect cost associated with a specific product or service offers many different options and there is no right or wrong answer to it. At the end of the day, a cost model is only as good as the organization perceives it to be. Today, an increasing number of companies are taking advantage of what the Industry 4.0 has to offer, making use of their own data in particular. In this study, we examine the possibilities of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) in conjunction with a data-rich manufacturing environment. The research is conducted as a case study at the Swedish startup battery manufacturing company Northvolt. The case study is two folded. Initially, a qualitative exploration of how TDABC with real-time activity data can be developed in a manufacturing company will be conducted. Following, the outcome of a TDABC model which utilized real-time activity data instead of estimated values will be examined through simulation. The study incorporates important findings from previous studies in terms of how much workers are actually overestimating their performances in most cases. The overestimation is one of the largest problems when it comes to TDABC, and it is due to the subjective belief that a worker is actually producing more than he/she actually is. With this in mind, this case simulation showed that Northvolt could possibly improve cost allocation by up to 4% from production cost in the part of the production under investigation by utilizing realtime data instead of overestimated values. / Att allokera rätt mängd indirekta kostnader som är associerade med en viss produkt eller tjänst kan göras på många olika sätt och det finns olika uppfattningar om vad som är rätt eller fel svar på hur. I slutändan är en kostnadsmodell bara så pass bra som organisationen uppfattar att den är. Idag utnyttjar allt fler företag de fördelar som Industry 4.0 har att erbjuda, särskilt tillvaratagandet av sin egna data. I denna studie undersöks möjligheterna för Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) i samband med en datarik produktionsmiljö. Studien utförs som en fallstudie hos den svenska batteriproducenten Northvolt. Fallstudien består av två delar. Dels kommer en kvalitativ undersökning kring hur en TDABC-modell med realtidsdata kan utvecklas i ett tillverkningsföretag som Northvolt att genomföras. Vidare kommer fallstudien också att undersöka resultatet av en TDABC-modell som utnyttjar realtidsdata istället för uppskattade värden genom en simulering. Simuleringen baseras på resultat från tidigare studier när det kommer till hur mycket arbetare övervärderar sina arbetsprestationer. Överskattningen är ett av de största problemen när det kommer till TDABC och beror på den subjektiva tron att man som arbetare faktiskt producerar mer än man i många fall tror. Med detta i åtanke visar simuleringen att Northvolt kan kalkylera med upp emot 4% bättre precision i allokering av produktionskostnader i den del av produktionen som undersöks genom att använda realtidsdata istället för övervärderade värden.

Product costing can be used to estimate potential future costs and revenues associated with a product. In the development of new products early cost estimates can be used to support decision making regarding which products are worth pursuing, and which production processes that are the most profitable. For a firm to make precise early cost estimates both technical and financial expertise is needed; however, in practice there is generally a gap between technology and cost. Process-Based Cost Modeling (PBCM) is a model developed to address this gap and generate costing estimates of higher precision. The model is especially developed for process production technologies. Although promising, PBCM is under researched and its applicability in new contexts are yet to be explored.  The purpose of this study was to explore the PBCM’s applicability in new context of process production. This was done through a case study at a multinational agricultural cooperative. The problematization presented by the Case Company was to make early cost estimation of the production process of a main product and its byproducts. Furthermore, the Case Company wanted to compare alternative production designs and use of different raw materials in the production process. To create a product costing model that fully captures the contextual depth of the problem both qualitative and quantitative data was gathered from internal documents, a series of interviews, and observation of one of the sub-processes.  The findings of the study resulted in development of a batch costing model, a hybrid between continuous operations and order costing systems. The batch costing proved to be dynamic and allowed comparison of different production and raw material alternatives. Furthermore, the PBCM methodology that resulted in the batch costing model was evident to give a deeper contextual understanding of the relationship between cost and production technology. For the Case Company, the outcome of the study highlighted key areas needing further investigation and process design features that lower operational costs. The results also provide recommendations how to increase the precision of the product costing models when more data are available. Finally, the academic outcome of the thesis provides trajectory in the further research on PBCM and gives new perspective on the use of batch costing in continuous operations. / Produktkalkylering kan användas för att uppskatta framtida kostnader och intäkter associerade med en produkt. Vid utveckling av nya produkter och produktionsprocess kan produktkalkylering således användas vid beslutsfattande i situationer där man ska välja vilka produkter som är värda att arbeta vidare med, och vid lönsamhetsberäkningar vid olika tillverkningsprocesser. För att företaget ska kunna göra precisa kostnadsuppskattningar behövs både teknisk och ekonomisk expertis. Detta överses dock ofta i praktiken, vilket leder till en klyfta mellan teknik och kostnad. Processbaserad kostnadsmodellering, eller Process-Based Cost Modeling (PBCM), är en metod som har tagits fram för att överkomma denna klyfta, framförallt inom processproduktion. Även om modellen är lovande så saknas forskning på området, därav behöver PBCM:s applicerbarhet prövas i nya kontexter. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka PBCM:s applicerbarhet i en ny kontext inom processproduktion. Detta gjordes genom att genomföra en fallstudie på ett multinationellt lantbruksföretag som har verksamhet inom livsmedelproduktion. Fallföretags problematisering byggde på att de ville göra en tidig kostnadsbedömning på tillverkningsprocess som producerar en huvudprodukt och ett antal biprodukter. Tillverkningsprocessen är ännu inte utvecklad och företaget vill således jämföra produktionskostnader vid användning av olika råmaterial och tillverkningsalternativ. För att utveckla en lämplig produktkalkyl till företaget samlades både kvalitativa och kvantitativa data in genom interna dokument, en serie av intervjuer, samt genom observation av en av de underliggande tillverkningsprocesserna. Studien resulterade i en hybridkalkyl som använder sig av både process- och orderkalkylering. Hybridkalkylen visade sig lämplig både för företagets produktionsteknologi, men framförallt tillät jämförelse mellan olika tillverkningsalternativ. Metodiken hos PBCM visade sig även användbar för att förstå hur kostnaden påverkas av produktionsteknologin. För fallföretaget påvisade resultaten områden som behöver undersökas ytterligare. Det ges även rekommendationer hur hybridkalkylen kan finslipas när företaget har mer data tillgängligt. När det kommer till det akademiska bidraget, så ger rapporten riktning för fortsatta forskningen på PBCM och ger nya perspektiv på hur hybridkalkylering kan användas i processproduktion.

Titel Rättvisa priser – En fallstudie på Volvo Construction Equipment (CE)Nyckelord Kostnadsfördelning, produktkalkylering, rättvis kostnadsfördelning, aktivitetsfördelning,värdeskapande aktiviteter.Syfte Syftet med fallstudien är att kartlägga värdeskapande aktiviteter, undersökavilken aktivitet som differentierar produkterna bäst och se hurprocesstiden/tiderna för en aktivitet kan användas som fördelningsnyckel vidfördelning av kostnader.Målningsprocessens aktiviteter har grundligt granskats och av dessa har de värdeskapandeprocesserna identifierats. Två slutsatser har dragits av fallstudien: Den tid som differentierar produkterna bäst är mantiden. Desto fler aktiviteter som involveras i kostnadsfördelningen, desto rättvisare blirkostnadsfördelningen. En summering av tiden i målningsroboten, rengöringen ochmantiden resulterar i ett bra underlag att kostnadsfördela på. Med reservation för attarbetet som utförs av operatörerna, mantiden, helst ska vara standardiserat.Produktkalkylering handlar om att fördela ett företags kostnader på dess produkter, vilket ärlättare sagt än gjort. Problemet kring kostnadsfördelning har diskuterats fram och tillbaka desenaste femtio åren. Hur ska ett företag fördela sina kostnader, direkta och indirekta, på sinaprodukter och tjänster för att de ska generera ett rättvist pris för produkterna och tjänsterna? Dedirekta kostnaderna är enkla att härleda till sitt kostnadsobjekt, men de indirekta kostnaderna ärbetydligt besvärligare.Studien undersöker vilka processer som är värdeskapande i målningsprocessen och av dessaprocesser har fyra olika scenarier skapats. Varje scenario består av olika värdeskapandeaktiviteter och deras processtider. Finansavdelningen på Volvo CE simulerade enkostnadsfördelning med varje scenario som underlag för fördelningen och utfallet avsimuleringen analyserades.Studien är gjord som en fallstudie på måleriavdelningen på Volvo CE. Författarna är EmiliaVardanyan och Erik Söder. Handledare på högskolan är universitetslektor Antti Salonen ochhandledare på Volvo CE produktionschef Josef Lännerstöm. / Title Fair prices – A case study in Volvo Construction Equipment (CE)Keywords Cost allocation, product costing, fair cost allocation, activity allocation, valueaddedactivities.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to locate the value added activities, investigatewhich activity that differentiate the products best and see how the processtime/times for an activity can be used as an allocation key for allocating costs.The activities at the department of painting have been examined and the value-added activitiesof these have been identified. Two conclusions have been made by the work. The time that differentiate the products best are the manual time, the work performedby man. The more activities that the cost allocation includes the more correct and fair thecalculation will be. The sum of the time in the painting robot, the cleaning process andthe manual time result in good a basis for cost allocation. With the reservation that thework performed by man should be standardized.Product calculation is about allocation of the cost in a company, which is easier said than done.The problems related to cost allocation has been discussed back and forward the latest fiftyyears. How should companies allocate their costs, direct and indirect costs, on their productsand services to give their products and services a fair price? The direct costs are easy to deriveto their cost object, but the indirect costs are way harder to work with.This paper investigates which processes that are value-adding in the paint shop and from theseprocesses four scenarios are made. Every scenario is made of different value-added activitiesand their process times. The finance department at Volvo CE simulated a cost allocation withevery scenario as basis and the result of the simulation were analysed.The work has been done as a case study in the paint shop at Volvo CE. The authors are EmiliaVardanyan and Erik Söder. The supervisor at Mälardalens university are associated professorAntti Salonen and the supervisor at Volvo CE are manager production engineering assemblyJosef Lännerström.

Course: Degree project in Logistics, the Business Administration and Economics Programme, 4FE19E, VT16 Authors: Marcus Lundgren and Tobias Nilsson Supervisor: Peter Berling Examiner: Helena Forslund Title: Product Costing in Small Craft Companies – A Case Study at Gemla Fabrikers AB Background: Today a competitive price is no guarantee to keep a company profitable. Cost control has become more central and especially cost control considering work put in to the product and tradeoffs connected to the product in question has become central to secure the company’s competitiveness. A useful tool to secure the competitiveness is product costing when making profit analysis, setting price levels as well as other decision making. The challenge is to find a product costing method which fits right and distribute the direct and indirect costs in a fair manner. Purpose: The purpose of this study is by constructing a flowchart over the production process adapt a model for product costing that supports pricing and decision making of the product assortment at Gemla Fabrikers AB, and theoretically raise the discussion of the adapted models suitability in a context of small time manufacturers that is characterized by an artisan production. Method: The study is conducted as a case study at Gemla Fabrikers AB and uses a research strategy containing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Collected data is mainly obtained via unstructured interviews, direct observations and time studies. A process mapping was made as a start to serve as a foundation for other parts of the study. A product costing method was later adapted to fit the parameters and way of working in a company with high levels of craftsmanship. Conclusions: After mapping the process of the company it was clear that the production was characterized by a time-consuming manufacturing process with a large number of activities. This resulted in an adapted product costing method, which origins from the activity based costing model, in order to distribute the costs in a more correct way based v on the actual time consumption. The adapted model is designed with a distinct activity based distribution on product level where every activity cost is established at a given volume of production, resulting in guidance and basis for cost control and when setting prices. Based on the company in the case study the conclusion was made that this way of working with product costing can be used in other companies with similar production and high level of craftsmanship, merging support activities together and focus on the value adding activities. The cost allocation is made using cause and effect based on the actual time put into the activities where a smaller number of time related cost drivers are used. The model is therefore to consider suitable for increased cost control as well as serving as a foundation for product pricing and decision making. / Kurs: Examensarbete i logistik för Civilekonomprogrammet, 4FE19E, VT16 Författare: Marcus Lundgren och Tobias Nilsson Handledare: Peter Berling Examinator: Helena Forslund Titel: Produktkalkylering i mindre hantverksföretag – En fallstudie på Gemla Fabrikers AB Bakgrund: Ett konkurrenskraftigt pris är i dagsläget inte tillräckligt då även en noggrann kostnadskontroll som tar hänsyn till arbetskraftsinsatsen och produktrelaterade avvägningar krävs för att säkerställa konkurrensförmågan. Ett användbart verktyg för detta är upprättandet av produktkalkyler som grund för lönsamhetsanalyser, prissättningsstrategi och beslutsunderlag. Svårigheten ligger dock i att finna rätt kalkyleringsmetod gällande detaljeringsnivån som fördelar en verksamhets direkta och indirekta kostnader på ett rättvisande sätt. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att genom en kartläggning av tillverkningsprocessen anpassa en produktkalkyl för prissättning och beslutsfattande av produktsortimentet på Gemla Fabrikers AB, samt teoretiskt lyfta diskussionen om anpassad modells lämplighet i en kontext för mindre tillverkande företag som karaktäriseras av en hantverksmässig produktion. Metod: Studien utförs enligt en fallstudie på Gemla Fabrikers AB med en flerfaldig forskningsstrategi av kvalitativ art med kvantitativa inslag. Datainsamlingen bygger främst på ostrukturerade intervjuer, direkta observationer och tidsstudier. En processkartläggning genomfördes till en början för att utgöra ett underlag för resterande delar. Vidare anpassades en produktkalkyl utifrån företaget och tillverkningens karaktär vilket slutligen utgjorde ett underlag för modellens lämplighet i en hantverksmässig tillverkningskontext. Slutsatser: Efter genomförd kartläggning av tillverkningsprocessen på fallföretaget framgick det att tillverkningen karaktäriseras av en tidskrävande process med ett stort antal ingående aktiviteter. Detta resulterade i att anpassad produktkalkyl utformades enligt en ABC-modell då slutsatsen blev att fördelningen av kostnaderna skulle göras iii mer rättvisande om dessa fördelades till respektive aktivitet baserat på det faktiska tidsutnyttjandet. Anpassad modell utformades genom en tydlig aktivitetsfördelning utifrån produktnivå där varje aktivitets kostnad fastställs vid en given produktionsvolym vilket möjliggör underlag för en ökad kostnadskontroll, prissättningsstrategi och beslutsunderlag. Baserat på studerat fallföretag drogs slutsatsen att anpassad modell görs lämplig för andra företag i en liknande hantverksmässig kontext utifrån att i högre grad göra sammanslagningar av aktiviteter med ett större fokus på de värdeadderande aktiviteterna. Kostnadsfördelningen sker via ett orsak-verkan samband utifrån det faktiska tidsutnyttjandet där ett mindre antal tidsrelaterade kostnadsdrivare används. Modellen blir då lämplig för ökad kostnadskontroll samt underlag för prissättning och beslutsfattande.

The purpose of the thesis was to investigate how an enterprise pre-calculate correspond withthe measured post-calculate. This is important for the company as the product should not besold for a too low or at a too high price. The result of the study was focused on finding if thereare any driving factors and if there is any correlation between these factors which could havean affect on the process time. By finding these factors could lead to a better forecastedcalculation.The results of the study shows that the company has a good idea how long time it takes toproduce each product. However, the time study shows that the process time depends on witchoperator that manages the process. This can have an affect on the company’s product cost in anegative way and there will be variation in time for each process. Although there areprocesses which are overestimated or underestimated, this means that the predicted andmeasured results are consistent with some products. It is possible to reduce the variation inprocess time through standardization of process time as well as work methods for eachprocess.In the result chapter it is show two charts of the correlation between the width and rolling,which made the linear regression line. This regression line can be used to improve thecompany’s calculation. / Rapportens syfte var att undersöka hur ett företags förkalkyler överensstämmer med denuppmätta efterkalkylen. Det är av vikt för företag då produkterna inte ska säljas till för lågaeller för höga priser. Det ledde till att studien riktades in på att hitta om det fanns någradrivande faktorer, samt om det fanns något samband mellan faktorerna som skulle kunnapåverka processtiden vid varje operation. Genom att använda de tidsdrivande faktorerna kandet leda till ökad säkerhet vid upprättning av förkalkyler.Resultatet av studien visar att företaget som studien berör har en bra uppfattning av hur långtid varje produkt tar att producera. Dock visade tidsstudien att företagets processer skiljer sigtidsmässigt beroende på vilken operatör som använder maskinen. Det påverkar företagetssjälvkostnad på ett negativt sätt, då det blir variation i tidsåtgången för processer. Det finnsdock processer som både är överskattade och underskattade vilket leder till att resultatetöverensstämmer för några produkter vid jämförelse av för- och efterkalkylen. För att minskavariationer tidsmässigt i processerna, kan standardisering av processhastigheter ocharbetsmoment var ett sätt att minska skillnader i för- och efterkalkyler.I resultatet visas även två diagram över hur sambandet mellan tid och valsning respektivebredd vilket gav en linjär regressionslinje. Regressionslinjen kan sedan användas för attförbättra företagets förkalkyler.

Background - Swedish trade and industry primarily involves small corporations, including small manufacturing corporations. Currently, most costing models that are used are based on studies accomplished at large corporations. This conveys to the fact that product costing that occurs at small manufacturing corporations is based on all complexities that large corporations bring, which rarely match with small corporations. It occurs that small manufacturing corporations unconsciously rely on incorrect information that has been calculated based on great corporations’ product costing. Product costing is an important part in finance control and is used in order to determine costs that are allocated to the products of the corporation. Purpose - This study investigates how product costing can be adjusted to small manufacturing corporations and how this adjustment can help these corporations to achieve increased cost awareness, which is also the aim of this study. Methodology - In order to achieve the aim a case study has taken place at Diac Metal AB. The approach to this has been abductive. Main focus has been on the varnish process at Diac and its product costing. Findings - By identifying material and information flow a profound understanding of the process activities and its potential cost driver has been achieved. The identification of material and information flow combined with the costing model that has been created on the basis of the facts; competition situation, need for information and experience have made it possible to answer the aim of this study. Conclusion - The conclusion is that visualization of material and information flow enables identification of potential cost drivers that are used when establishing an utter cost allocation. An utter cost allocation is the reason to the fact that increased cost awareness can be achieved, which is a crucial fact in order to achieve growth and profitability.

This thesis investigates manufacturing costs in the company, which produces electrical assemblies for the special transportation vehicles. The analysis focuses on one particular large-scale long-term project for a foreign customer. The teoretical part presents the overview of the cost management methods and techniques, the emphasis is on the product costing methods. The practical part analyzes the data obtained from the company's ERP system and compares it with prices in the contract and in the initial offer. The aim is to assess whether the planned costs and profits of the initial calculation has been achieved. In case there is found a difference between an expected and an observed value, the reason for this difference is investigated, and steps to achieve the initially desired results are recommended.

In enterprises, virtual collaboration is increasingly important due to digitalization and the rising relevance of knowledge work. Product costing is an example of a business domain that is characterized by a high demand for communication, coordination, and information exchange. Time and location-based restrictions underline the necessity of computer-assisted support in collaboration. The concept of Business Domain-Specific e-Collaboration presented in this thesis is an approach to integrate IT-support for virtual cooperation directly into the core processes of particular business domains and the corresponding enterprise systems. Derived from the example of the product costing domain, design principles for Business Domain-Specific e-Collaboration illustrate how such an integration can be achieved in various business domains.