Integrating Activity-Based Costing With the Theory of Constraints To Enhance Production-Related Decision-Making.

Abstract Activity-based costing (ABC) and the theory of constraints (TOC) represent alternative paradigms for modeling a firm's production structure. This paper discusses how aspects of the TOC may be integrated with ABC. The resulting model captures the interaction between the cost, physical resources, and capacity of production activities. The model enables an optimal production mix to be determined from simultaneous evaluation of ABC data and physical attributes of the production process. Equally important, it facilitates identifying a bottleneck activity that constrains the firm's production opportunities and may lead to excess resources in the firm's other production activities. Sensitivity analysis may be used to estimate the benefits that may accrue from relieving a constraint and identifying the subsequent set of activities that will become a bottleneck as prior constraints are relieved. Integrating ABC with principles from the TOC provides an expanded framework for understanding the economic consequences of production-related decisions.