Zoltán Bokor

Improving Transport Costing by using Operation Modeling

Transport costing methods applied in practice rely mainly on traditional, accounting approaches. These methods are not able to provide reliable cost of information for decision makers on elementary services as they use arbitrary allocation principles. The operation based on costing is one of the methodological developments whose adaptation can contribute to improve the accuracy of transport cost management. To support costing improvements in transport, this present paper aims to identify the shortcomings of currently used techniques and give a guideline on how to overcome them. The theoretical basics of a new transport costing model are developed while some experiences of early pilot applications are also considered.

Assessing the logistics efficiency of European countries by using the DEA-PC methodology

Data envelopment analysis is a non-parametric linear programming method widely used for the efficiency evaluation of decision making units active in the transport sector. However, it is seldom applied for the efficiency assessment of logistics efficiency at a macro level. The article presents such an example which is at the same time the very first application of a lately developed methodology where data envelopment analysis is combined with analytic hierarchy process to yield an appropriate tool for efficiency evaluation with full ranking. The logistics efficiency of 29 European countries is tested with the new DEA-PC (pairwise comparison) methodology while it is also compared with the results gained with the original DEA method. Furthermore, the outcomes are also evaluated in light of the ‘Logistics quality and competence’ index of the Logistics Performance Indicator (LPI), a major international survey into the logistics competence of countries. Thus, the results of traditional DEA and DEA-PC are both weighted against survey data which is also a novelty in the logistics sector.

Performance-based logistics costing

Logistics costing provides useful information for decision makers when planning or evaluating logistics services and functions. The traditional procedures applied for calculating logistics costs are, however, not always able to deliver the requested information due to the use of arbitrary allocation techniques. This paper introduces a calculation approach for logistics with more exact cost allocations based on the identified performance flows or relations. The differences caused by the various roles of logistics in companies are also considered. The model can establish an improved form of the decision support information systems in logistics.

Circuit Diagram for Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

Cost calculation models are being improved continuously. The advanced methods of cost calculation use such techniques like activity-based costing or full cost allocation. These methods are based on the modelling of operation processes. This paper aims to introduce a new methodology of circuit diagrams by using the operational models as starting points. The operational models are improved through circuit models based on the morphotronic theory. In the circuit diagram profit objects are sources of activity fluxes that are consumed or dissipated inside the cost objects. The intensity of the fluxes is determined by the structure of the network. It consists of the profit objects and the cost objects that are connected with each other, furthermore, of the cost driver units (price or effort) that profit objects must pay and of the intensity of the bonds (resistances) or connections between economic objects (profit and cost objects). The circuit diagram computation of the flow computes in a way that the total cost of the system assumes the minimum value. The circuit diagram defines the independent fluxes and also how to compute the dependent fluxes by the superposition of the independent fluxes. The circuit diagram is included in a more general theory denoted morphotronic.