This research analyzes the accounts payable computer application in a manufacturing business. Presentation of the research findings is in two parts. In the first part, the major uses and concepts of the application are described, while in the second part, inputs and outputs for the application are illustrated, and one management report is described.
The major uses of the accounts payable computer application are described in the initial discussion. This discussion is followed by the identification and description of the concepts of the application.
The introduction of high tech into the manfacturing process creates changes which render many traditional accounting procedures either or both ineffective and irrelevant. In the recent past, the emphasis in manufacturing management was on materials inventories, ordering and production lead times, labor and material efficiency, work in progress (WIP) levels, finished goods inventories, and so forth. The emerging emphasis in American manufacturing is on just in time (JIT) techniques. JIT production techniques emphasize the elimination of waste, which is defined as "any activity performed within a manufacturing company which does not add value to the product" (Maskell, 1986b, p. 32). Within the parameters of this definition of waste are inventories, materials handling, quality problems, queues, shop floor delays, lead times, and unnecessary clerical and accounting procedures (Maskell, 1986a). The elimination or minimization of inventories, lead times, and so forth creates a need for radical changes in traditional accounting procedures. JIT demands (1) flexibility on the shop floor, and (2) flexibility in accounting practices, because many traditional characteristics of the production process must be either eliminated or altered to a significant extent (Holbrook, 1985). These characteristics are as follows:
1. WIP is eliminated by reducing batch sizes (prefer...