Indirect Costs of Ceramic Manufacturing Industries of the South of Santa Catarina

Abstract

This paper presents not only a study related to the ceramic cost behavior in ceramic industries but also an argument about the use of the criteria for the production indirect costs allocation. The researched data were collected into a twelve month period, in 2008, and were also directly taken out from costs spreadsheets of three ceramic industries of the south of Santa Catarina. It is, therefore, an exploratory and descriptive research bringing some qualitative and quantitative approaches, whose goal is to statistically analyze, the adherence of the criteria used in ceramic industries for the apportionment of indirect costs of production. For this purpose, two criteria of apportionment were tested: the volume produced in m² and mass consumption in tons, as independent variables , and also two items of indirect costs: the gas consumption in m³ and the value of the indirect labor in R$, as independent variables. Regarding the indirect labor, using the criteria volume produced and mass consumption, the analysis indicate rates around 41%, It is considered to be a moderate positive correlation. On the other hand, regarding the gas consumption the correlating degree found has reached an average of 73%, which is considered strong positive correlation. To sum up, it has been understood that the companies still need to revise their criteria of apportionment, furthermore showing that there isnt a uniform behavior for the three cases studied.