The application of the theory of constraints and activity-based costing to business excellence: the case of automotive electronics manufacture firms

Abstract

The manufacture of high-quality cars at comparatively low-cost has gradually become the mainstream. Our study designs a set of integrated time-driven-activity-based costing (TDABC) of performance-oriented systems using the bottleneck-breaking concept of theory of constraints (TOC). We use it to provide timely and relevant information on operation resources and cost management, which is an urgent issue. Through applications of TOC to TDABC, we further integrate cost concepts into the information system of the enterprise to achieve the following objects: First, the company can concentrate its limited resources on the main problem of bottleneck operations to effectively solve the inconsistency between individual departments and overall objects of the company. Second, in business process management, the company leads all operation processes to follow three major performance indicators. Third, the production-planning units are assisted in applying the specifications and definition of product to the manufacturing cost analysis of new product development. Fourth, in the delivery time, the production and management units are assisted in giving priority to the bottleneck operations when facing rush orders. Finally, in process improvement, improving bottleneck operations fast is the key for overall profits of the corporation.