Chapter 7

The Conversion Cycle

THE CONVERSION CYCLE

 Transforms input resources, raw materials, labor, and

overhead into finished products or services for sale
 Consists of two subsystems:
 Physical activities – the production system
 Information activities – the cost accounting
system

Conversion Cycle in Relation to Other Cycles

 Production System

 Involves the planning, scheduling, and control of the

physical product through the manufacturing process
 determining raw materials requirements
 authorizing the release of raw materials into
production
 authorizing work to be conducted in the
production process
 directing the movement of work through the
various stages of production

Production Methods
 Continuous Processing creates a homogeneous
product through a continuous series of standard
procedures.
 Batch Processing produces discrete groups (batches)
of products.
 Make-to-Order Processing involves the fabrication
of discrete products in accordance with customer
specifications.
Overview: Traditional Batch Production Model…
 consists of four basic processes:
 plan and control production
 perform production operations
 maintain inventory control
 perform cost accounting

Batch Production System

 Production Planning and Control

 Materials and operations requirements
 Production scheduling
 Materials and Operations Requirements
 Materials requirement – the difference between what
is needed and what is available in inventory
 Operations requirements – the assembly and/or
manufacturing activities to be applied to the
product
 Production Scheduling
 Coordinates the production of multiple batches
 Influenced by time constraints, batch size, and
other specifications
 Work Centers and Storekeeping
 Production operations begin when work centers
obtain raw materials from storekeeping.
 It ends with the completed product being sent to
the finished goods (FG) warehouse.
 Inventory Control
 Objective: minimize total inventory cost while
ensuring that adequate inventories exist of
production demand
 Provides production planning and control with
status of finished goods and raw materials
inventory
 Continually updates the raw material inventory
during production process
 Upon completion of production, updates finished
goods inventory
EOQ Inventory Model
 Very simple to use, but assumptions are not always valid
 demand is known and constant
 ordering lead time is known and constant
 total cost per year of placing orders decreases
as the order quantities increase
 carrying costs of inventory increases as
quantity of orders increases
 no quantity discounts
Information: Documents in the Batch Production System
 Sales Forecast - expected demand for the finished
goods
 Production Schedule - production plan and
authorization to produce
 Bill of Materials (BOM) - specifies the types and
quantities of the raw materials and subassemblies used
to produce a single finished good unit
 Route Sheet - details the production path a particular
batch will take in the manufacturing process
  sequence of operations
 time allotted at each station
 Work Order - uses the BOM and route sheet to
specify the exact materials and production processes
for each batch
 Move Ticket - records work done in each work center
and authorizes the movement of the batch
 Materials Requisition - authorizes the inventory
warehouse to release raw materials for use in the
production process
Production Planning and Control

Upon Completion of the Production Process…

 Cost Accounting System

 Records the financial effects of the events occurring in the

production process
 Initiated by the work order
 Cost accounting clerk creates a new cost record for the
batch and files in WIP file
 The records are updated as materials and labor are used

Elements of the Cost Accounting System

 Receipt of last move ticket signals completion of the

production process
 clerk removes the cost sheet from WIP file
 prepares a journal voucher to transfer balance to a
finished goods inventory account and forwards to
the General Ledger department
Summary of Internal Controls

Internal Controls
Transaction authorizations
 work orders – reflect a legitimate need based on sales
forecast and the finished goods on hand
 move tickets – signatures from each work station
authorize the movement of the batch through the
work centers
 materials requisitions – authorize the warehouse to
release materials to the work centers
Segregation of duties
 production planning and control department is
separate from the work centers
 inventory control is separate from materials storeroom
and finished goods warehouse
 cost accounting function accounts for WIP and should
be separate from the work centers in the production
process
Supervision
 work center supervisors oversee the usage of raw
materials to ensure that all released materials are used
in production and waste is minimized
  employee time cards and job tickets are checked for
accuracy
Access control
 direct access to assets
 controlled access to storerooms,
production work centers, and finished
goods warehouses
 quantities in excess of standard amounts
require approval
 indirect access to assets
 controlled use of materials requisitions,
excess materials requisitions, and
employee time cards
Accounting records
 pre-numbered documents
 work orders
 cost sheets
 move tickets
 job tickets
 material requisitions
 WIP and finished goods files
Independent verification
 cost accounting reconciles material usage (material
requisitions) and labor usage (job tickets) with
standards
 variances are investigated
 GL dept. verifies movement from WIP to FG by
reconciling journal vouchers from cost accounting and
inventory subsidiary ledgers from inventory control
 internal and external auditors periodically verify the
raw materials and FGs inventories through a physical
count
 WORLD-CLASS COMPANIES AND
LEAN MANUFACTURING

World-Class Companies…

 continuously pursue improvements in all aspects of their

operations, including manufacturing procedures
 are highly customer oriented
 have undergone fundamental changes from the traditional
production model
 often adopt a lean manufacturing model

Principles of Lean Manufacturing

 Pull Processing – products are pulled from the consumer end

(demand), not pushed from the production end (supply)
 Perfect Quality –pull processing requires zero defects in raw
material, WIP, and FG inventories
 Waste Minimization – activities that do not add value or
maximize the use of scarce resources are eliminated
 Inventory Reduction – hallmark of lean manufacturing
 Inventories cost money
 Inventories can mask production problems
 Inventories can precipitate overproduction
 Production Flexibility – reduce setup time to a minimum,
allowing for a greater diversity of products, without
sacrificing efficiency
 Established Supplier Relations – late deliveries, defective raw
materials, or incorrect orders will shut down production
since there are inventory reserves
 Team Attitude – each employee must be vigilant of problems
that threaten the continuous flow of the production line
Lean Manufacturing Model
 Achieve production flexibility by means of:
 Changes in the physical organization of
production facilities
 Employment of automated technologies
• CIM, AS/RS, robotics, CAD, and
CAM
 Use of alternative accounting models
• ABC and value stream accounting
 Use of advanced information systems
• MRP, MRPII, ERP, and EDI
TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES
THAT PROMOTE LEAN
MANUFACTURING

Physical Reorganization of the Production

Facilities

 Inefficiencies in traditional plant layouts increase

handling costs, conversion time, and excess
inventories.
 Employees tend to feel ownership over their stations,
contrary to the team concept.
 Reorganization is based on flows through cells which
shorten the physical distance between activities.
 This reduces setup and processing time,
handling costs, and inventories.
Progression of Automation in the Manufacturing Process

Automating Manufacturing

 Traditional Approach to Automation

 Consists of many different types of machines
which require a lot of setup time
 Machines and operators are organized in
functional departments
 WIP follows a circuitous route through the
different operations
 Islands of Technology
 Stand-alone islands which employ computer
numerical controlled (CNC) machines that can
perform multiple operations with less human
involvement
 Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC)
Machines
 Reduce the complexity of the physical layout
 Arranged in groups and in cells to produce an
entire part from start to finish
 Need less set-up time
  Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
 A completely automated environment which
employs automated storage and retrieval
systems (AS/RS) and robotics
 Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems
(AS/RS)
 Replaces traditional forklifts and their human
operators with computer-controlled conveyor
systems
 Reduce errors, improved inventory control,
and lower storage costs
Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) System

 Robotics
 Use special CNC machines that are useful in
performing hazardous, difficult, and
monotonous tasks
 Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
 Increases engineers’ productivity
 Improves accuracy
 Allows firms to be more responsive to market
demands
 Interfaces with CAM and MRPII systems
  Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)
 Uses computers to control the physical
manufacturing process
 Provides greater precision, speed, and control
than human production processes
Achieving World-Class Status
 The world-class firm needs new accounting methods
and new information systems that:
 show what matters to its customers
 identify profitable products
 identify profitable customers
 identify opportunities for improving
operations and products
 encourage the adoption of value-added
activities and processes and identify those that
do not add value
 efficiently support multiple users with both
financial and nonfinancial information
 ACCOUNTING IN A LEAN
MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT

What’s Wrong with Traditional Accounting

Information?

 Inaccurate cost allocations – automation changes the

relationship between direct labor, direct materials, and
overhead cost
 Promotes nonlean behavior – incentives to produce large
batches and inventories, and conceal waste in overhead
allocations
 Time lag – data lag due to assumption that control can be
applied after the fact to correct errors
 Financial orientation – dollars as the standard unit of measure

Activity Based Costing (ABC)…

 is an information system that provides managers with

information about activities and cost objects
 assumes that activities cause costs and that products (and
other cost objects) create a demand for activities
 is different from traditional accounting system since ABC
has multiple activity drivers, whereas traditional accounting
has only one, e.g. machine hours
ABC – Pros and Cons
 Advantages
 More accurate costing of products/services,
customers, and distribution channels
 Identifying the most and least profitable
products and customers
 Accurately tracking costs of activities and
processes
 Equipping managers with cost intelligence to
drive continuous improvements
 Facilitating better marketing mix
 Identifying waste and non-value-added
activities
 Disadvantages
 Too time-consuming and complicated to be
practical
 Promotes complex bureaucracies in conflict
with lean manufacturing philosophy
 Value Stream Accounting

 Value stream – all the steps in a process that are essential to

producing a product
 Value streams cut across functions and departments
 Captures costs by value stream rather than by department
or activity
 Simpler than ABC accounting
 Makes no distinction between direct and indirect costs
 Including labor costs
Cost Assignment to Value Stream
 INFORMATION SYSTEMS THAT
SUPPORT LEAN MANUFACTURING

 Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP)

 Ensures adequate raw materials for
production process
 Maintains the lowest possible level of
inventory on hand
 Produce production and purchasing schedules
and other information needed to control
production
 MRP II
 An extension of MRP
 More than inventory management and
production scheduling – it is a system for
coordinating the activities of the entire firm
 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
 Huge commercial software packages that
support the information needs of the entire
organization, not just the manufacturing
functions
 Automates all business functions along with
full financial and managerial reporting
capability
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
 External communications with its customers
and suppliers via Internet or direct connection