Kaizen costing
Kaizen costing seeks continuing, incremental cost improvement during ongoing operations, with participation from employees and attention to process learning. It differs from target costing focused on allowable cost before or during design, although both can support competitive value. Improvements should protect quality, safety and sustainable operations rather than impose arbitrary percentage cuts. Measure achieved resource or activity changes and distinguish them from cash savings that require capacity to be released.
Worked example
A team reduces set-up time from 60 to 50 minutes through better preparation, freeing bottleneck time without replacing the machine.
Common mistake
A recurring demand for lower spending is not automatically kaizen if no process improvement or employee learning supports it.
Where it appears in your exams
| Qualification | Exam | Relationship | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCA | APM | Direct | September 2026–June 2027 |
