An Input–Output Technological Model of Life Cycle Costing: Computational Aspects and Implementation Issues in a Generalised Supply Chain Perspective

Abstract

Material and cost flows play an important role within manufacturing systems in setting the structural interdependences among a supply chain of production processes. Environmentally-extended input-output analysis provides a computational structure that takes these interdependences into account. This is interesting for many applications within supply chain analysis and business processes analysis, especially as far as cost accounting is concerned. This chapter addresses the emerging issue of incorporating costs into life cycle assessment as a premise to outline a concept of life cycle costing based on an input-output technological model. This model is common to both physical accounting and cost accounting. It allows product costing and resource planning to be carried out while taking into account issues concerning inter-organisational cost management, multi-product systems, closed-loop recycling, pollution abatement processes, and the production and disposal of waste. Such a framework can also be employed in order to evaluate what effect different design solutions are likely to have on both the material flows, and even the associated whole-of-life costs.