New standard gets cost flow accounting flowing - 10 May 2012.
The new ISO 14051:2011, Environmental management –
Material flow cost accounting – General framework standard has been released,
to assists organizations to better understand the environmental and financial
consequences of their material and energy use practices.
ISO 14051:2011 Standard establishes a management
information system approach called Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA), which
can be used to trace and quantify material input and output flows and stocks
within an organisation.
The system helps identify material and energy use
practices, and understand these in costs and physical terms. The information
can then be applied to reduce losses and increase gains.
"Many organizations are unaware of the full
extent of the cost of their material losses because this data is often
difficult to extract from conventional information, accounting and
environmental management systems," said Professor Katsuhiko Kokubu,
convener of the working group that developed the standard.
"MFCA ... can motivate managers to enhance
material productivity and significantly reduce unnecessary waste far more
effectively than through conventional means," Kokubu said.
MFCA is applicable to all industries that use
materials and energy, including extractive, manufacturing, service and other
industries.
The news standard can be purchased from the ISO store.
Source:www.ben-global.com
10 May, 2012.