Annett Bierer

Material Flow Cost Accounting: A Tool for Designing Economically and Ecologically Sustainable Production Processes

In the context of designing modern, competitive production processes, companies face the challenge of integrating the growing ecological demands of customers and other stakeholders as well as resource scarcity on one hand and the dominant need for economic success on the other hand. An approach to meet ecological and economical goals is the improvement of the material and energy productivity. This is strongly supported by the method of material flow cost accounting (MFCA). It aims at the identification of processes’ material and energy related inefficiencies and the (monetary) quantification of their effects on the overall process chain. This chapter firstly introduces the basic methodology of MFCA. Afterwards, refinements and enhancements concerning the modeling of loops and stocks, the integration of energy and the design of a prospective MFCA are proposed. Concluding, aspects of MFCA’s practical implementation are discussed.

Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing - Methodical Relationships, Challenges and Benefits of an Integrated Use

Due to discussions on climate change, environmental pollution, exhaustible energies and resources ecological efficiency has gained importance as one decisive objective beside economic efficiency. As a concept for sustainability appraisals, life cycle engineering addresses both of the efficiency dimensions basing on two pillars: life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). LCA and LCC are often applied independent from each other and thus, significant relationships between ecological and economic efficiency remain unconsidered. Therefore, the paper investigates mutual points of contact and methodical relationships and presents a procedure model for an integrated use of LCA and LCC.

A Target Costing-Based Approach for Design to Energy Efficiency

For some years an additional target – design to energy efficiency – comes into the focus of machine tool designers. Mechanical engineering companies are now facing the challenge to develop and manufacture cost efficient and energy efficient machine tools. Due to methodological support for the development of energy and cost efficient machine tools is needed, but remains unmet in theory and practice, the paper discusses target costing for energy- and cost-related planning and controlling of design specifications. Two approaches are introduced: an adjusted target costing that integrates energy efficiency via corresponding cost budgets and a target energy management focusing on energy consumption.

Methodological Assistance for Integrating Data Quality Evaluations into Case-Based Reasoning Systems

Case-based reasoning systems are used in more and more problem-solving domains supporting the long-term reusing and storing of experience. The performance of these systems essentially depends on the quality of the experience items in their knowledge base, represented as data. Defects in the quality of these data may interfere with the systems performance. By means of inspection and review the data quality is measured, evaluated, assured and improved. To support these activities in a case-based reasoning system, data quality criteria and control processes are required. Previous work in the field of data quality in case-based reasoning remains at a comparatively coarse-grained level. Existing approaches mostly do not provide sufficient methodological assistance in defining fine-grained quality criteria or designing and implementing control processes for the measurement and evaluation of the data quality. Therefore this paper proposes two approaches for methodological assistance in developing data quality inspections and data quality management for case-based reasoning systems.

Management of Cost Knowledge in Product Design – Integration of Upstream and Downstream Life Cycle Phases

To design products that meet the customer and market requirements as well as given cost limits, knowledge from the whole life cycle is essential. On the one hand, important parts of this knowledge are generated before and after design decisions. On the other hand, knowledge has to be distributed among various internal and external knowledge carriers. Thus, there is a need of methods supporting the integration of cost (related) knowledge from upstream and downstream phases in design processes. The paper presents such methods as part of a holistic cost knowledge management approach for product design.

Dimensions of Case-Based Reasoner Quality Management

CBR systems are increasingly applied in practice. There, the systems ability to provide users with the information they need depends on the quality of the systems knowledge base and its long-term assurance and continuous improvement. Currently, in CBR research quality is rather an abstract term and maintenance takes a center stage. But in practice, there is a need for a broader and more detailed focus on quality aspects. Hence, the paper extends the maintenance view to a quality-oriented view. A framework is presented containing relevant aspects of a CBR systems quality management (CBRQM). It will be shown that maintenance approaches are not independent from a CBRQM.