Operational Cost Management Research Articles

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

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.

Development and application of equipment maintenance and safety integrity management system

Equipment management in process industry in China essentially belongs to the traditional breakdown maintenance pattern, and the basic inspection/maintenance decision-making is weak. Equipment inspection/maintenance tasks are mainly based on the empirical or qualitative method, and it lacks identification and classification of critical equipment, so that maintenance resources can’t be reasonably allocated. Reliability, availability and safety of equipment are difficult to control and guarantee due to the existing maintenance deficiencies, maintenance surplus, potential danger and possible accidents. In order to ensure stable production and reduce operation cost, equipment maintenance and safety integrity management system (MSI) is established in this paper, which integrates ERP, MES, RBI, RCM, SIL and PMIS together. MSI can provide dynamic risk rank data, predictive maintenance data and RAM decision-making data, through which the personnel at all levels can grasp the risk state of equipment timely and accurately and optimize maintenance schedules to support the decision-making. The result of an engineering case shows that the system can improve reliability, availability, and safety, lower failure frequency, decrease failure consequences and make full use of maintenance resources, thus achieving the reasonable and positive result.

Structural equation modeling for assessing of the sustainability of rural water supply systems

As one of the basic human needs, water services should be sustainable. Researches related to the sustainability of water services have been conducted in several developing countries. However, there are no identical researches in Indonesia. This paper discusses the analysis of factors that contribute to sustainability of rural water supply systems in East Java, Indonesia. Data is collected by observing rural water supply facilities, interviewing water committees and water users, and taking documentation. The data is used to build a model, which was developed from theoretical or conceptual model. The model's development uses structural equation modeling (SEM). This model can show the factors that contribute to sustainability of rural water supply systems. The sustainability is influenced significantly by nine variables; they are selection of technology, water sources, investment cost, capability of operator, availability of spare parts, operation cost, technical operation, community participation, and institutional management.

The Czech transition banking sector instability: the role of operational cost management

In this article we show—using the estimated cost efficiency of banks—that besides the risk (proxied by the share of non-performing loans), the quality of operational cost management was an equally important determinant of bank failure risk during the decade of banking sector transformation in the Czech Republic.

A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO COST MANAGEMENT ENTERPRISES

The article is devoted to the issue of operational cost management which consists in the search and achievement of the optimum level both for the enterprise as a whole and for its structural subdivisions. Studies of the issue of operational cost management must have a systematic character. The article proposes a mechanism of cost management which consists of combination of organizational and economic elements.

Managing Operating Costs With a Risk- and Economic-Evaluation Tool

This article is a synopsis of paper SPE 64448, "A Risk- and Economic-Evaluation Tool for Management of Operating Costs," by Helen E. Harvey, SPE, and Dale P. Gration, Woodside Energy Ltd., and Stephen Martin, IGL Engineering Pty. Ltd., originally presented at the 2000 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Brisbane, Australia, 16-18 October.