Real Time Grade Costing - The Use of Process Data for Cost Modeling, 1998 Process Control, Electrical & Info. Conference Proceedings

If manufacturing activities are properly identified, measured and related to the resources they consume, we are better able to understand the costs associated with the activities being performed. And, if the manufacturing activities being measured can be related to the production of a specific product, we can begin to understand the costs related to the production of that product. This understanding of the relationship between activities performed and resources consumed allows mill managers, operators, and planners to carefully organize and execute the manufacturing activities required to produce a given product with full knowledge of all costs which will be incurred. This understanding also facilitates accurate prediction of the financial consequences of performing an activity long before the activity is actually performed. Further, by measuring and analyzing the value associated with an activity and its associated cost, we are often able to identify resource consuming activities which may be eliminated from the manufacturing process.