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The Concepts Of Activity- Based Costing

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ABSTRACT This paper will discuss and analyze the concepts of Activity- Based Costing (ABC) in the manufacturing industry. Specifically, the document will focus on General Motors (GM), and the innovation of one of their manufacturing facilities who used ABC to predict energy usage in the manufacturing of automobiles. The study yielded a successful ABC predictive energy model which provided a structure for competitive advantage for the corporation.
INTRODUCTION
General Motors (GM) is one of the most renowned automakers in the world. GM is well-known for their streamlined assembly processes which saves money and time in the production of cars. A study was conducted at one of GM’s vehicle assembly plants as part of a research project to examine how the ABC model provides value. GM specifically focused on its potential to determine expected energy use in a plant for varying production schedules in order to evaluate Demand and Response offers. According to the case study written by Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, and Biller, energy costs were steadily rising and were predicted to continue this trend going into the future. At the same time, utility companies were beginning to implement Smart Grid technologies to increase the efficiency of energy distribution. One resulting program to emerge from these new technologies was Demand and Response contracting. (Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, Biller 2000). This program allowed customers to obtain a discount on their

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