Activity Based Costing - Data collection
made easier!
 The process of collecting “time spent” data from individuals in order to
build an ABC model can be time consuming for interviewers and is often
daunting, especially for the interviewee. The messages sent out when
somebody comes to your desk and spends an hour or more effectively asking
“what do you do with your time?” can appear negative and the quality of the
data collected may depend on the “bedside manner” adopted by the
interviewer.
For
these reasons ValueAdding.com has worked with our partner Azolve to develop
an on-line data collection facility. A demonstration example of the model is
available to look at here:
ABC Online Model Demo
This enables people to conduct their own self interview in their own time
and without somebody looking over their shoulder. It is particularly useful
when large numbers of staff are being involved or multiple numbers of
departments are taking part. It can also be used when more than one
organisation is looking at the same process.
To set this up requires the completion of an activity directory that can be
published on-line and against which participating staff can identify how
much time they spend completing key tasks. The time for these activities can
vary in frequency from one day a month to 20 minutes per day but this allows
the set up to capture specific and detailed information.
To use the system every staff member is given a log in code which takes them
through to a single data capture screen where the processes and activities
they participate in are listed. The rest is up to them.
When conducting ABC projects the normal way of managing the project is to
set a time within which all the interviews are going to be conducted by the
in-house project team. This enables you to develop a plan stating who is
doing which interviews and when – progress can be easily monitored. Using
the on-line collection facility however the amount of resource and input
required of the in-house project team is much reduced as staff will conduct
their own interview.
The role of the in-house project team does however change and now includes:
 Creation of the activity directory and set up of the facility;
Showing staff how to use the system;
Setting a timetable and deadline for the data entry to be completed;
Reminding staff to input their details;
Supporting those staff who have difficulty in doing so.
Using one to one interview techniques a project involving 60 or 70 staff
might require 15 - 20 days of interviewing from the in-house team with extra
time devoted to the write up and entering of interview data to a PC based
model. With the on-line data collection facility the data collection time
can be as short as you require because each staff member needs less than one
hour to complete their data input.
The normal ABC outputs are provided from the on-line system. Both total
process and unit costs can be produced and analysed. Data is provided as
screen shots and in Excel tables.
Email
us for more information:
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