UNIT COST OF TRANSFORMATION IN THE PEU METHOD:

THE SUM OF THE SECTORS MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE COST OF THE PRODUCTION LINE

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the adoption of the PEUmethod individually for each productive sector generates different values for the transformation costs of products, compared to the use of a single PEU for the entire factory. For this purpose, a methodology was used that can be characterized as qualitative research, with a descriptive approach and with the configuration of a case study in the context of an aluminum profile industry. The results obtained indicate that the options (i) of adopting an individualized PEU for each sector of the production line or (ii) of using only a single PEU for the whole factory entail different values of the unitary cost of transformation of the products, if applied the PEU method. It was also found that the cause of these divergent values is the existence of different levels of idleness in the productive sectors that make up the industrialization process, since the cost of idle capacity in one sector is partially transferred to the other when a single PEU is used for the whole factory. Thus, the theoretical contribution of the study is based on the aspect of proving that, in the PEU method, the monetary value of the unit costs of product transformation is influenced by the existence of different levels of idle capacity in the sectors of a manufacturing line.