Whole Life Cycle Cost: a new approach

The last few years have seen significant improvements in the concepts, methods and general approach to calculating costs. ABC, Target Costing, Strategic Cost Management, functional analysis and costing are mobilising attention. Regardless of which of these approaches we consider, it is always from the point of view of one player whose intention is to benefit from increased knowledge of costs in order to achieve increased control over their value chain and profit margins. This self-centred vision is also present in the PLC (Product Life Cycle costing or cost of the product life cycle) concept, which is firmly anchored in product marketing. We are of the opinion that this type of economic calculation no longer fits our current industrial systems which is based on networks of partners contributing to R&D, manufacturing and services The network of organisations represents a growing complexity, necessitating even more complex costing and management methods than the recent innovations.