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Target Cost Of Target Costing

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Target Costing is a process that can significantly improve new product development results in accounting, operations management, and purchasing. It can be defined as a cost management tool for reducing the overall cost of a product during its life cycle. Although the Japanese expanded the concept of Target Costing back in the 1960s, the roots of this concept can actually be traced back to World War II.
Back in World War II, product shortages contributed in US manufacturers making an effort to build the most into a product for the lowest cost possible in a process called Value Engineering. Value Engineering then evolved and became known as Target Costing after the Japanese adopted the idea. As a customer-driven, price-led, long-term profit planning system, Target Costing can be a very useful measure in saving money and in turn, making a profit. As a result, some American companies today have begun to use target costing as their form of profit planning system, such as Chrysler Corp. and The Boeing Co., despite the fact Target Costing has not caught on in the US. American manufacturers using Target Costing are light years away from having an integrated, company wide system compared to its Japanese counterparts. Perhaps because the Japanese are the main users of the Target Costing concept, and 80 percent to 85 percent of all Japanese manufacturers use this concept. These manufacturers include manufacturing giants such as Sony, Toyota, Nissan, Canon, NEC, and Olympus.

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