The contribution of cyber-physical production systems to activity-based costing in manufacturing. An interventionist research approach

This study aims to investigate how the implementation of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) in small manufacturing firms can facilitate the implementation of the Activity-based Costing method in calculating production costs, in order to increase the reliability of the costing information for decision-making purposes. The collaboration of the research team with managers allowed an in-depth knowledge of the manufacturing problems of the investigated firm, allowing the analysis of the manufacturing process under both a costing and a managerial perspective. Findings which emerge from the analysis show that the integration between CPPS investments and ABC, through the real-time measurement of resources by sensors, apps and part program, lead to useful information about operations, allowing to improve their performances and reduce resource consumption. As a result, a model of integration between the factory control system, the communication network and the production system is proposed.