Cost Accounting's Role in Computer- Integrated Manufacturing An Empirical Field Study.

This paper reports the findings of a field study which compared cost accounting activities of four computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) factories with four traditional manufacturing (TM) plants. The four CIM sites were selected for their CIM attributes: integrated functions and data systems, pull-through production control, reduced set-up times and costs, and application of advanced computer-aided engineering and manufacturing process technologies. The four TM sites were selected for their traditional manufacturing attributes: dedicated inflexible processes, costly set-ups, general purpose machinery, push-through production control. Research data were gathered from taped and transcribed interviews held with accounting, engineering, production, and plant management personnel. The study's results provide descriptive insights about the kinds of changes in cost accounting activities likely to occur where CIM is introduced to a TM plant. The findings suggest that CIM will move cost accounting into a new era of cost management emphasis, but the impact on formal cost accounting systems is likely to be gradual and lag behind the pace of change in engineering and production systems.