The problem
Most manufacturers know their raw material cost and their payroll. Few know the full cost per unit of product: with process losses, setup time, energy, packaging, actual (not standard) labour, and overhead allocated correctly. The result: selling prices set “by the market”, products that look profitable but aren’t, and portfolio decisions taken on intuition.
Our approach
We don’t bring a costing template. We start from your actual process flow – recipes, yields, stages, equipment – and build the cost model on its structure:
- Map the flow from raw material receipt to finished product, with the points where losses and by-products appear.
- Collect the data that exists (ERP, scales, production sheets, spreadsheets) and identify what is missing.
- Build the cost model in layers: direct cost, manufacturing cost, full cost – with explicit, verifiable allocation rules.
- Validate with your team – technologist, production, accounting – until the numbers are recognised as real.
- Deliver a tool: a cost calculator in Excel/Power BI or configured in your ERP, plus the update procedure.
How it differs by industry
- Food processing (meat, dairy, bakery): cost is dominated by cutting/processing yields and by-products. A model without a mass balance per stage is useless.
- Discrete manufacturing: machine time, setups and scrap matter; the multi-level BOM and routings are the base.
- Distribution: “production” is handling, storage and transport – cost per order line and per customer matters more than cost per product.
What you get
A clear answer to “where do I make money and where do I lose it”, a tool your team can update on its own, and the basis for pricing, portfolio and investment decisions.