Use of activity-based costing and economic value analysis for the justification of capital investments in automated material handling systems

This paper develops a two-stage method for the justification of investment in modern material handling systems. The underlying approach places heavy emphasis on the use of cost avoidance data quantified by activity-based costing systems. The first stage collects the life-cycle costs and benefits resulting from the reconfiguration of material handling systems in manufacturing facilities. A recently developed software package for process modelling and management is employed to capture the characteristics of material handling activities and to derive accurate applied cost rates for each activity and material handling system combination. These activity-related cost data as well as various opportunity costs are incorporated in a case-specific, investment decision model that constitutes the second stage of the method. The model performs an Economic Value Analysis for each material handling alternative. In doing so, it offers a sound basis for economic comparison of different systems. A case study illustrates the merit of our two-stage method in decision making by placing an accurate and reliable economic value on the transition from manual to automated material handling in a manufacturing facility. The use of activity-based costs reverses the decision of sustaining the 'status quo' supported by a traditional investment justification approach restricted to solely labour cost reductions.