目标成本核算的最优方案案例

12MANAGEMENTACCOUNTINGQUARTERLYWINTER2003,VOL.4,NO.2TheConsortiumforAdvancedManufacturing—International(CAM-I),theAmericanInstituteofCPAs,andtheUniver-sityofAkronrecentlysponsoredamajorstudytobenchmarkbestpracticesintargetcosting.Thisstudyexaminedthewaysinwhichtargetcostinghasbeenappliedinavarietyofindustries,thelevelofsuccessandmeasurableimprovementsachieved,andthefactorsthatinfluencedthesuccessoftheseapplications.ThestudybeganwithasurveytocollectinformationabouttargetcostingpracticesthroughouttheUnitedStates.Afteranalyzingthesurveyresults,conductingtelephoneinterviews,andreviewingsecondaryresearch,theresearchteamselectedfourcompaniesashavingbestpracticesintargetcosting.Theteamthenconductedsitevisitsateachofthe“bestpractice”com-panies,namelyTheBoeingCompany,Caterpillar,DaimlerChrysler,andContinentalTeves(asupplierofautomotivebrakesystems).Theresultsofthestudyarediscussedhere.TARGET-COSTINGPRINCIPLESTargetcostingcanbestbedescribedasasystematicprocessofcostmanagementandprofitplanning.Thesixkeyprinciplesoftargetcostingare:11.Price-ledcosting.Marketpricesareusedtodeter-mineallowable—ortarget—costs.Targetcostsarecalculatedusingaformulasimilartothefollowing:marketprice–requiredprofitmargin=targetcost.2.Focusoncustomers.Customerrequirementsforquality,cost,andtimearesimultaneouslyincorporatedinproductandprocessdecisionsandguidecostanaly-sis.Thevalue(tothecustomer)ofanyfeaturesandfunctionalitybuiltintotheproductmustbegreaterthanthecostofprovidingthosefeaturesandfunctionality.3.Focusondesign.Costcontrolisemphasizedattheproductandprocessdesignstage.Therefore,engineer-ingchangesmustoccurbeforeproductionbegins,resultinginlowercostsandreduced“time-to-market”fornewproducts.4.Cross-functionalinvolvement.Cross-functionalproductandprocessteamsareresponsiblefortheentireproductfrominitialconceptthroughfinalproduction.5.Value-chaininvolvement.Allmembersofthevaluechain—e.g.,suppliers,distributors,serviceproviders,andcustomers—areincludedinthetargetcostingprocess.BestPracticesinTargetCostingWinter2003VOL.3NO.4Winter2003HEREISHOWFOUR“MODEL”COMPANIES—THEBOEINGCOMPANY,CATERPILLAR,DAIMLERCHRYSLER,ANDCONTINENTALTEVES—APPLYTHISCOSTINGTECHNIQUE.BYDANSWENSON,PH.D.,CMA,CPA;SHAHIDANSARI,PH.D.;JANBELL,PH.D.,CPA;ANDIL-WOONKIM,PH.D.13MANAGEMENTACCOUNTINGQUARTERLYWINTER2003,VOL.4,NO.26.Alife-cycleorientation.Totallife-cyclecostsareminimizedforboththeproducerandthecustomer.Life-cyclecostsincludepurchaseprice,operatingcosts,maintenance,anddistributioncosts.THETARGETCOSTINGPROCESSEssentially,companiesusetargetcostingtoestablishconcreteandhighlyvisiblecosttargetsfortheirnewproducts.Tomaximizecostcontrolandenhanceprofitimprovement,mostcompaniessetrelativelyaggressivetargets.Theprocessbeginswhentopmanagementestablishesatargetcostforanewproduct,forexample,aChryslerNeonoraCaterpillarExcavator.Acostesti-matinggroupwillthendecomposethetargetcostfortheproductasawholeintocosttargetsforsubassem-bliesandindividualcomponentparts—engine,trans-mission,seats,andsoon.Frequentlya“gap”existsbetweenthetargetcostandcostprojectionsforthenewproductbasedoncur-rentdesignsandmanufacturingcapabilities.Closingthegapthroughcostreductioniscentraltothetargetcost-ingprocess.Thisisaccomplishedthroughcross-func-tionaltargetcostingteams,whichanalyzetheproduct’sdesign,rawmaterialrequirements,andmanufacturingprocessestosearchforcostsavingsopportunities.Thecross-functionalteamsemployavarietyofmanagementtoolsandinitiativestohelpthemachievetheirobjec-tives.Thefollowingsectiondescribessomeofthesetoolsandinitiativesandothercharacteristicsofsuccess-fultargetcostingcompanies.TARGETCOSTINGENABLERSThebestpracticecompaniesdemonstratedcertaincommonalitiesintheiroperationsandthewayinwhichtheysupportedthetargetcostingprocess.Theyallhadveryeffectiveorganizationalstructures,respondedtothe“voiceofthecustomer,”streamlinedtheirproductdevelopmentprocess,andactivelyengagedtheirsupplychaintoachievetargetcostingobjectives.Tobetterunderstandthesepractices,wevisitedthefourcompa-niesthathadachievedthemostsuccessineacharea.Ourobjectivewastodocument“bestpractices”indeployingthesekeyelementsoftargetcosting.Ateachbestpracticecompany,targetcostingissup-portedbyamatrixorganizationalstructurewhereaver-tical,functionalorganizationcombineswithhorizontal,cross-functionalteams.Forexample,U.S.OperationsforDaimlerChryslerhasfiveplatformteamsthatcoverlargecars,smallcars,mini-vans,trucks,andjeeps.Eachteamiscross-functionalandincludesmembersfromdesignengineering,manufacturingengineering,pur-chasing,production,andfinance.Thetargetcostingsystemdeterminescostobjectivesandperformancegoalsforeachplatformteam,andmeetingthesegoalsisanimportantcomponentofteammembers’annualper-formancereviews.ThetargetcostingsystematDaimlerChryslermakesuseofa“toolbox”ofmanagementinitiativestoimproveproductivityandreducecosts.Thetoolboxincludesvalueengineering/valueanalysis,designformanufactur-ingassembly,paperkaizen,andleanmanufacturing.Eachinitiativeisimplementedthroughworkshopscom-posedofmultifunctionalteams.Theteamsvaryfromfiveto30individualsa