Doktorandenseminar der Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften

zum Thema
„Inhaltsanalyse von Text- und Videodaten“
Prof. Dr. Bärbel Fürstenau
Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Günther
Dr. Mandy Hommel
Technische Universität Dresden
Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften
01062 Dresden

Seminararbeit
von

Matthias Walz
Waisenhausstr. 67
80637 München
Matthias.Walz@mailbox.tu-dresden.de
Doktorand am Lehrstuhl für BWL, ins.
Betriebliche Umweltökonomie

Content analysis of MFCA case studies

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 2
2. Scope of analysis .............................................................................................................. 2
3. Method .............................................................................................................................. 3
Review of methods for data analysis of case studies .............................................................. 4
Research methodology ........................................................................................................... 5
4. Results ............................................................................................................................... 7
Contribution of cost accounting to industrial ecology ............................................................. 8
Rationale for MFCA = PLAN.................................................................................................... 9
Success factors and obstacles = DO ...................................................................................... 10
Triple Bottom line effects through MFCA = CHECK ............................................................... 11
Actions resulting from MFCA = ACT ...................................................................................... 13
5. Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 14
References ............................................................................................................................... 16
Appendix 1: List of case studies ............................................................................................ 19
Content analysis of MFCA case studies

1. Introduction

MFCA (Material Flow Cost Accounting) is a new cost accounting method for identifying
improvement opportunities in terms of material consumption and accrual of costs. 73 case
studies about MFCA use in companies were analyzed and synthesized in order to find out
what benefits and drawbacks these companies have experienced when implementing and
applying MFCA and to find out if MFCA could be a tool for realizing principles of industrial
ecology (IE). Although the focus of the case studies was MFCA, they reported effects cover
a broad spectrum. By comparing and synthesizing over 700 statements in the analyzed case
studies, a clear picture about the experiences companies get from applying MFCA can be
given. This may be helpful in practice when considering whether to use MFCA and in theory
as a basis for further research.

2. Scope of analysis

It is argued that the application of MFCA is beneficial for companies notably because
costs and wastes could be reduced at the same time (Wagner 2003; Nakajima 2006; Onishi,
Kokubu, and Nakajima 2008; Christ and Burritt 2015; Schmidt 2015). The focus (Mintzberg
1979) of this study is to find out if and what kind of evidence exists about effects of the
application of MFCA in companies in general and in terms of IE. We do know that the use of
MFCA can be beneficial, as shown in a number of cases studies. An international MFCA
community has emerged over the last 15 years, where academics, practitioners, and
governmental bodies have formulated a standard procedure on how to proceed when
carrying out MFCA (DIN-EN-ISO 14051). MFCA is seen as a tool for increasing resource
efficiency and thus contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United
Nations (2015), although there are still conflicts with existing management perspectives
(Kokubu and Kitada 2015) when using MFCA. Evidence is given in single case studies, but we
do not know if this is an individual phenomenon or if MFCA is beneficial in general.
Moreover, we do not know if there are similarities or differences in the objectives of the
authors and in the results of the MFCA case studies. Also, we do not know the potential of
MFCA as a tool for IE and, on a broader scale, MFCA’s contribution to the sustainability

-2-
development goals (United Nations 2015). Therefore, we collected all available MFCA case
studies for a thorough examination of these questions. According to Sandelowski et al.
(1997), the synthesizing of existing studies is fundamental for reaching higher analytic goals
and for enhancing the generalizability of qualitative research. Tranfield et al. (2003) argue
that a systematic review helps to obtain reliable knowledge by accumulating the knowledge
from a number of studies. Scapens (1990) distinguishes between statistical and theoretical
generalizations, where the former only indicate statistical regularities and the latter provide
empirical explanations of particular occurrences and build a pattern model which helps us
understand the social systems. This led to the research approach of analyzing and
synthesizing all available MFCA case studies to accumulate the knowledge from a range of
case studies and to better understand the MFCA phenomenon. Moreover, it is expected to
identify general patterns concerning rationales for using MFCA, success factors and
obstacles when using MFCA, benefits from using MFCA, and actions resulting from MFCA
use.

Thus, the research question is:

“What effects of the application of MFCA did companies experience in practice?”

3. Method

The research question has various implications for the research methodology. It
requires empirical data from companies which actually apply MFCA in their organization. In
principle, data could be gathered by direct research within the companies or by secondary
research in existing literature (Hunter, Schmidt, and Jackson 1982; Hunt 1997). Doing a
review of the literature to get evidence of the current research state in a specific discipline is
a key research objective (Tranfield, Denyer, and Smart 2003). Zumsteg et al. (2012) offer a
checklist for systematically reviewing Life Cycle Assessment data in order to conduct and
report systematic reviews. Parts of their approach were adapted to the MFCA case studies.
In order to get an overview about the relevant literature, in important scientific databases
were screened: Sciencedirect, Emeraldinsight, Link.springer, Onlinelibrary.wiley,
Web.ebscohost and Web of knowledge, Google Scholar, and also in the internet search
engine Google. The search was not restricted to certain sources because in this first step the
focus was to identify as many case studies, reports, and even hints at the application of

-3-
MFCA in a company. The search term “material flow cost accounting” generated 287 hits on
Nov. 15th, 2013, in Google Scholar. Those hits and the hits in the other databases were
examined as to whether they comprise an MFCA case study. This search was updated in
2016 and as a result, 73 companies were found which – according to the sources - apply
MFCA. When the name of the company was given, it was searched for further sources for
this specific case with the search term ((“Company Name” AND (“material flow cost
accounting” OR MFCA)). When the company name was not given, it was searched for
further sources about the specific case with the search term ((“Author Name” AND
(“material flow cost accounting” OR MFCA)). At this stage two exclusion criteria for sources
were applied. First, the sources should meet certain publication standards, i.e. professional,
trade, and industry journals, in order to judge the information as reliable. Second, the
information contained in a source should do more than just simply describe the fact that the
mentioned company applies MFCA.

Review of methods for data analysis of case studies

After the search described above, it was decided to move ahead with the results found
as the basis for our study and not to conduct primary research. With the description of the
application of MFCA in 73 companies comprising 371 pages, it was assumed the data would
be enough to answer the research question by conducting a synthesis of the findings
described in the identified sources. A research synthesis can be the summarizing,
integrating, and cumulating of the findings of different sources (Glass 1977; Mulrow 1994).
Secondary analysis of multiple studies has a long tradition in various academic disciplines
(Newig and Fritsch 2009). Applying methodological rigor to reviews is as important as for
primary research (Cooper 1982, 291). Still, condensing 371 pages into 3 to 5 pages
represents a huge challenge; the equivalent of expressing in five words what was written in
300 words. Therefore, case study analysis methods were reviewed in several scientific
disciplines and the analysis was drew on the subsequently described procedures.
It was followed the scientific guidelines for conducting integrative research reviews
formulated by Cooper (1982) where he describes potential threats to validity and how
validity can be protected during the five stages of the review process from problem
formulation, to data collection, evaluation of data points, data analysis, and up to the
presentation of results.

-4-
In order to identify the type of analysis method which would fit best to the research
question and to the sources of data, research synthesis methods proposed in literature
(Zhao 1991) (see supplement 1 for an overview) were examined. Specifically it was looked
for methods dealing with the synthesis of qualitative research in general (Miles and
Huberman 1994) and for the synthesis of case studies. In order to better judge and code a
single case study, relevant literature for examples (Huff 1999) on how to conduct and
evaluate a case study and how to conduct a study of case studies was also examined. As the
sources dealing with MFCA applications in practice are mainly reports and case studies,
literature which describes methods on how to synthesize case studies were considered
especially. In order to complete the picture when analyzing case studies, literature
regarding the identification of criteria which could be used to judge the quality of the single
case was also examined. The given recommendations were considered and a research
methodology taking into account the heterogeneity in terms of length, depth, focus,
structure, and style of MFCA case studies conducted so far was drafted.

Research methodology
From the analysis of the literature it was concluded that there exists a rich and varied
body of methods, frameworks, and guidelines on how to conduct a research synthesis of
qualitative case studies which all aim to apply rigor and to achieve scientifically tenable
results. The ideas and concepts of the presented literature were considered and it was
decided to proceed as follows: First of all, it was found that the identified MFCA case studies
rarely meet the criteria of good case study research as described in the examined literature.
For example, only 10% of the case studies provide information about the sources of their
data as recommended by Yin (2014). Therefore, further specific criteria in order to judge the
quality of the MFCA case studies based on the DIN-EN-ISO 14051 standard for MFCA were
developed. Criteria included the extent MFCA issues and procedures were described in a
case study concerning the implementation, modules, results, improvement measures, and
success factors/obstacles of MFCA application.
Coding scheme and coding
The “data” of a meta-synthesis are the original insights that the researchers of the
primary studies have generated (Hoon 2013). To categorize evidence from MFCA case
studies, the case studies were analyzed according to a comprehensive list of codes.
Mayring’s (2003) approach to develop a coding scheme was followed: deductive category

-5-
application and inductive category development. All relevant aspects of MFCA were
included by translating the requirements of MFCA as defined in standard DIN-EN-ISO
1405.1 into codes. In DIN-EN-ISO 14051 a plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle is suggested
when applying MFCA. The steps and elements in the PDCA cycle were used as codes
Analyzing according to the categories derived from DIN-EN-ISO 14051 will allow a
comparison of the theoretical concept of MFCA with its actual use. Although the
sustainable development goals (SDGs) were defined after the case studies were conducted,
their goals ideally match and were contrasted against statements in the case studies. In
addition, general data about the company described in the case study and meta-data about
author, document, reporting method, participants of the study, duration of study, purpose
of the study, compositional structure of the study, rationale to conduct the study, sources of
evidence, and information about the sources of evidence (Yin 2014) were coded.
Furthermore, for each article the coder gave a brief statement about their overall thoughts
about the specific article in terms of quality, depth, and usability for further analysis. After
testing the initial coding scheme with seven heterogeneous case studies, the coding
scheme was refined and amended accordingly. For example, in some cases a new coding
category was added when the given codes were too specific and did not cover the
statement in the text. All codes have been agreed upon between the authors of the paper
and were described in a short memo. Coding the case studies was a quite mechanical task
where every text passage (word by word) which fit to a certain code was coded. It could be
the case that one text passage was coded with different codes. Textual and graphical
content was also coded. In total over 2,800 codings were created in 73 case studies with the
help of MAXQDA software.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

As Bullock (1986, 38) and Jensen and Allen (1996, 555) recommend, we set the inclusion
criteria broadly in order to get a comprehensive picture of MFCA use in companies.
However, case descriptions were excluded when they did not specifically apply MFCA as
described in DIN-EN-ISO 14051. Case descriptions described in an abstract or in a short
summary but were not published or available from the author for confidentiality reasons or
other reasons were not included in the sample. When the same organization was already
covered in another paper, the case itself was not included as a new case, but information
from these articles was included in the case analysis of this particular organization. To

-6-
summarize, a broad filter for including MFCA case studies was applied. The case studies
were analyzed from an interpretivist’s point of view (Cepeda and Martin 2005), which means
that the own understanding is built on the subjective understanding of the author of the
case study. An abductive approach (Dubois and Gibbert 2010) was followed where
theoretical frameworks evolve simultaneously and interactively with empirical observation
with no clear theory (on MFCA) in place.

Synthesizing data
In order to summarize and synthesize data a cascade procedure was followed where first
the codings were summarized through short citations or with own wordings. After that
categories of statements were built under which the summarized codings or parts of them
could be subsumed. In a sense Jensen and Allen (1996) and Thomas and Harden (2008) were
followed by comparing and contrasting and also translating the codings into one another
and synthesizing these translations. Then the occurrences of statements consolidated in a
specific category were counted. These categories and the number of occurrences are
presented in the results section to provide a rich insight (Walsham 1995).

4. Results

It was expected that case studies which examine the use of the same management
tool (use of MFCA) will be similar in approach and focus. However, the analyzed case studies
vary considerably in approach and focus despite all examining the use of the same
management tool (MFCA). In this section it is shown that rationales for using MFCA, success
factors, obstacles, and benefits when using MFCA, and actions resulting from MFCA could
be generalized, although single case studies may cover very fragmented topics, as shown in
Figure 1:
Figure 1: Coverage of topics in the 73 analyzed MFCA case studies

From the 73 MFCA case studies analyzed, no single case description, neither the
method of MFCA itself nor its application, is characterized as insufficient. The vast majority

-7-
describe positive aspects of using MFCA: increases in the transparency of processes,
provision of a better calculation basis, and eventual cost reductions and improvement
measurements. Especially its systematic approach towards waste reduction in contrast to
ad hoc activities is described as one of the strengths of MFCA. As an obstacle of the
application of MFCA, companies refer to the sometimes cumbersome task of generating
the raw data, such as material balances, material flows, and the related costs. Before
presenting the results of the analysis in detail, I would like the reader to consider that the
absence of a statement in a case study concerning a specific topic does not necessarily
mean that in this case study this topic had no effect. It rather means that for various reasons
the examined topic is just not covered by the study. Such reasons include, but are not
limited to, the following reasons: confidentiality, unintended omission, different focus of
the study, and results were not available at all or not available by the time the study was
written. The case studies were examined by describing the various occurrences, thus
explaining a wide range of circumstances and not merely the quantitative distribution
(Scapens 1990). Thereby it was intented to ascertain if accounting could contribute to IE by
analyzing the MFCA accounting method in practice.

Contribution of cost accounting to industrial ecology

One idea of industrial metabolism is “[…] the whole integrated collection of physical
processes […]” (Ayres 1998, 3). Cost accounting techniques such as MFCA may contribute to
this idea of IE when applied in companies and especially beyond the boundaries of a single
company, which means throughout the supply chain. In the examined case studies,
companies report that through the application of MFCA they
1) identified new areas for improving material efficiency in the supply chain;
2) could identify improvements in a more systematic way in the supply chain;
3) realized that MFCA has to be expanded to the whole supply chain.
Canon Inc. [30] describes the advantage of expanding MFCA to the whole supply chain as
follows: “The glass material supplier and Canon shared the information related to material
losses and cooperatively worked to reduce the losses. This collaboration brought about
positive environmental, economic and technological impacts, enhancing market
competitiveness and realizing a win-win relationship between the glass material supplier
and Canon.” (Ministry of Economy 2011, 34). One case study [09] explicitly reports that
MFCA supports the vision of zero waste, a key concept of IE. Several case studies [29], [31],

-8-
[32], [52], [53], [54], [58] describe the improvement opportunities in the entire supply chain
(upstream and downstream) due to the deployment of MFCA.

Rationale for MFCA = PLAN

The actors who plan to implement MFCA in their company have certain expectations
of the new accounting method. In 34 (47%) of the 73 case studies, reasons were given why
the companies have deployed MFCA. The motives reported are diverse; on average in a
case study two different reasons were given. The companies deployed MFCA due to
economic, environmental, and organizational reasons (77 occurrences, in some case studies
two or more reasons of the same category were given). Omron Relay & Devices Corporation
(Japan) [32] explicitly states the following reasons for applying MFCA: “To achieve a 10%
reduction in material loss in the processes of pressing, heat treatment, and plating.” and
“[t]o achieve a win–win relationship after introduction of MFCA through continuous effort,
such as application of the subject process to the manufacturing of other components.” The
analysis of the case studies provides a broad range of reasons why the companies initially
committed to MFCA. The reasons are also in line with SDGs such as achieving higher levels
of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation
(SDG 8.2), improving global resource efficiency in consumption and production (SDG 8.4),
using natural resources efficiently (SGD 12.2), reducing waste (SDG 12.5), and having
relevant information and awareness for sustainable development (SDG 12.8).
Table 1: Main reasons and specific reasons for choosing MFCA
Sub-category Number of studies/ Exemplary quotes
Main reasons occurrences
Economic reasons (such as 37 “Alpha was keen to transform these into cost savings and can see that MFCA
reduction of costs or identification has great potential to assist Alpha in doing so.” [71]
of hidden costs)
Environmental reasons (such as 22 “The objective of introducing MFCA in the aforementioned two companies
reduction of waste or reduction of was to minimize total material losses in the supply chain by reviewing a
environmental impact) layout at the design phase.” [55]
Organizational reasons (such as 18 “The objective of this project was twofold: To establish an indicator for
using MFCA as a tool to enhance process improvement and cost reduction, and to connect it with the goals of
quality or improvement of enhancing quality, resource-saving, and energy-saving.” [35]
processes)
Specific reasons
Increase corporate environmental 11 “The company implemented MFCA as a means for reducing its
performance environmental impact” [58]
Reduce losses 8 “MFCA was initially implemented in processing areas and subsequently
introduced to the non-processing workplace to achieve company-wide waste
reduction.” [31]
Identify sources for improvement 8 “MFCA was used to identify inefficient process which has high negative
product cost.” [23]
Use as a tool 7 “One Japanese company introduced MFCA as an environmental
management tool to overcome operating losses.” [10]
Identify material losses 6 “To introduce MFCA to the outsourced processing process by the suppliers
with the aim of visualizing potential losses (e.g., material loss, energy loss,
information transmission loss, and the loss due to rather complex issues
arising from the relations between the companies).” [54]
Reduce costs 6 “… MFCA was implemented for process improvement and cost
improvement which eliminates waste, and to improve environmental

-9-

Source for decision-making
Improve a process
Increase productivity
Measure costs of non-product
output
Get physical and monetary data
about losses
Discover hidden costs
Identify management problems
Underline economic value of
physical amounts
Take on flow-oriented perspective
Achieve win-win relationship in
supply chain
Establish an indicator
performance by reducing energy costs through the efficient use of
resources.” [38]
6 “…to use the MFCA result as a source for decision-making when making an
investment to curtail the identified losses.” [49]
5 “…locating and improving operational weaknesses and, thereby, enhancing
financial and environmental performance after establishing MFCA is an
important topic for small- and medium-size enterprises.” [01]
4 “The introduction of MFCA at this project involves an examination of the
yield ratio of material, and it aims to achieve further productivity
enhancement, cost reduction, and environmentally friendly
manufacturing.” [34]
3 “… the Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) approach was used to
measure the quantity and value of the non-product output costs.” [05]
3 “MFCA supports JBC Food in tracking and costing material use and material
losses to support material efficiency improvements and the vision of zero
waste.” [09]
2 “…it was very meaningful to identify hidden cost related not only to
materials but also to system and energy.” [26]
2 “…MFCA was proposed with the initial motive to increase production
efficiency and identify management problems.” [67]
2 “The goal has been to underline the economic value of the physical amounts
associated with manufacturing process in order to show the economic value
of material losses.” [22]
2 “…environmental cost accounting at JBC should ideally take on a flow-
orientated perspective with attention to energy and waste issues. MFCA is a
specific environmental cost-accounting approach that meets these
requirements.” [09]
1 “To achieve a win–win relationship after introduction of MFCA through
continuous effort, such as application of the subject process to the
manufacturing of other components.” [54]
1 “The objective of this project was twofold: To establish an indicator for
process improvement and cost reduction, and….” [35]

Success factors and obstacles = DO

Before applying MFCA on a constant basis, it has to be introduced successfully into
the organization. In total, 15 cases out of 73 (21%) list success factors for the
implementation of MFCA.
Table 2: Main success factors for the implementation of MFCA
Sub-category Number of studies/ Exemplary quotes
occurrences
Thorough preparation of 6 “As it is important for the project staff members to understand MFCA prior
MFCA processes to its introduction, a meeting was held to clarify points of
implementation.” [57]
Successful experience due to 6 “The company’s willingness to account for physical information and
MFCA improve the measurements required, increased as some initial benefits from
EMA [MFCA was applied] became apparent.” [64]

Also mentioned were the following success factors: management support, including MFCA
into ERP system, internal communication about MFCA, multi-unit and multi-level team
composition, demonstrating the monetary effect due to MFCA, evaluating performance
due to MFCA, recognizing usefulness of MFCA, and collaboration with supplier. Success
factors for a constant application of MFCA were named in seven case descriptions out of 73
and include the following: demonstrate benefits of MFCA, execute improvement
discoveries, show value of loss, tie in the right people, integrate MFCA in MCS
(management control system), integrate MFCA in target setting, integrate MFCA in the

- 10 -
innovation process, low effort of MFCA. 13 out of 73 (18%) mention some kind of obstacle
during implementation of MFCA. Mainly they describe difficulties when gathering the data
physically or when installing an interface to the existing accounting system. Others report
the following obstacles: knowledge about process is required, collaboration with supplier is
necessary, high effort for MFCA analysis, or resistance of employees. 12 out of 73 (16%)
mention some type of obstacle during the application of MFCA. Employees balance the
benefits against the effort of MFCA and see the effort as relatively high. Another
impediment for MFCA mentioned in four case studies is the reliability of the data. Also
described were difficulties in defining suitable MFCA parameters, the requirement of
specific know how, and the limited availability of data.

Triple Bottom line effects through MFCA = CHECK

After applying MFCA its effects should be checked. Identifying inefficiencies through
MFCA results in reduced waste and costs and often better working conditions. By
synthesizing the 73 case studies, it became clear that MFCA has financial, environmental,
and social effects, though only 25% of the case studies describe more than one effect.
Chang et al. (2015) state that their case study [01] “has validated that the MFCA is not only a
decision-making tool, but also an instrument to assist corporations in undertaking their
social responsibilities.” The majority of the case studies in our analysis, however,
concentrate on financial and environmental effects which partly comprise the pursuit of the
SDGs (United Nations 2015). Exemplary quotes taken from the case studies underpin
MFCA’s role in raising the potential for IE.

Financial effects of MFCA

30%, or 22 out of 73 case studies, explicitly report a positive financial effect (cost
reduction) through the application of MFCA. In no case study is it mentioned that the
application of MFCA had a negative financial effect. Some companies provide absolute
figures; for example, Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd (Japan) [25] reports that costs were reduced
by 5.3 billion yen within two years (which is, for two years, 65 million US dollars, or
approximately 0.3% of sales, assuming reduction was equally distributed between the two
years). Various effects of MFCA comprising a financial component are described in 42% (31
of the 73) of the examined case studies. In Table 3 we provide exemplary quotes concerning
positive financial effects of MFCA. In 58% of the case studies no financial effects of MFCA
are described.

- 11 -
Environmental effects of MFCA
18% (13 of 73 case studies) explicitly report a reduction of waste through the
application of MFCA. The examples in Table 3 give an overview of the breadth of the results
achieved through MFCA. 71% of the 73 case studies did not describe environmental effects
of MFCA; however as explained earlier, this does not mean that environmental effects did
not occur due to MFCA. Almost all case studies which described environmental effects also
illustrated financial effects.

Strategic effects and effects on decision making of MFCA

Results from MFCA were used as strategic input for decision makers. In one case [50]
the MFCA analysis led to the awareness that a certain service could be offered which had a
significant potential for expansion. I identified the enhancement of the decision-making
process, strategic input, and increased competitiveness as the three effects of MFCA with
strategic relevance as depicted in Table 3. 14% (10 out of 73) of the case studies explicitly
report that MFCA supports or improves decision making. 82% of the 73 case studies made
no statement about strategic or decision-making effects of MFCA.

Other effects of MFCA

53 of the 73 case studies (73%) mention one or more positive contributions of MFCA to
their business (see Table 3). Further effects of MFCA described in the analyzed case studies
were “MFCA as a tool to search for improvements” and “MFCA changed the perception”.
Moreover, through MFCA the employees shared information better, companies enjoy a
more positive external reputation, there was increased employee participation, and
employees could more easily convince top management to undertake environmentally
friendly changes.
Table 3: Financial, environmental, strategic, and other effects of MFCA
Sub-category Number of Exemplary quotes
Financial effects studies/occurrences
Cost reduction 22 “Cost reduction was 128 million yen from 2005 (the launch year) to 2009”
[31],”Simultaneously, positive economic impacts were seen from reduced
purchased price, less operations, less purchased amount of operating
materials, less handling costs of sludge, waste oil and waste fluid.” [30]
Financial analysis on material loss 8 “Through MFCA analysis, the impact of defective products could be
identified not only in terms of yield rate, volume of defective products, and
residual volume, but also in terms of total cost.” [43]
Investments made 5 “Especially in this project, MFCA was employed as a company decision-
making tool, which led to 700 million yen of improvement measures and
capital investments.” [24]
Material loss in monetary units 1 “This suggested that 8,400 yen was disposed of every month from the nickel
plating process. Likewise, it was necessary to consider these losses in
combination with the waste management costs (5,500 yen).” [37]
Environmental effects
Waste reduction (SDG 12.5) 13 “… a significant more emissions reduction (73% reduction) was achieved
than initially targeted in the company’s Environmental Voluntary Action
Plan” [29], “The sludge volume was reduced by 50% through improvements

- 12 -

Improvements (SDG 8.2)
Measurement of waste (SDG 12.8)
Systematic approach
Attention to environmental issues
(SDG 12.8)
Strategic effects
Decision support
Strategic input
Increased competitiveness
Other effects
Better calculation basis
Identified improvement measures
Identified key issues / problems
Improvements made
Motivated for action
based on the MFCA analysis. Furthermore, volume of oil and abrasive
powder used in the grinding process were reduced by 40% and by 50%,
respectively.” [30]
6 “As a result, optimal, environmentally-friendly cutting parameters were
developed to create a cleaner and more sustainable manufacturing
process.” [03]
2 “... it became clear that the visualization of energy by CO2 conversion and of
water resources in actual used amount is necessary to be continuously
monitored in the future as an approach to reduce associated environmental
impacts.” [54]
2 “... by integrating financial performance evaluation with MFCA data, it has
in effect constructed a management control system that enables company-
wide environmental conservation-oriented activities to be conducted
systematically.” [10]
1 “Material Flow Cost Accounting system can mitigate the probability of
dysfunctional decision making, particularly for investment decisions, assist
managers in directly filtering out energy or material waste, and enhance the
accuracy of product cost evaluations.” [01]
10 “The Nitto Denko’s case proved that MFCA could serve as a management
effective tool for business decisions in the following aspects: MFCA
clarifies issues and potential solution for these issues; and MFCA enables
appropriate capital investment and secures a budget for such investment.”
[24]; “Through in-depth understanding of “quantity × unit cost”, it became
possible to understand the adverse effects of proceeding with business based
on intuition.” [49]
4 “In regard to products designed in other companies, the additional value of
Press Manufacturer A will be realized through its proposals to customers
from the viewpoint of “material loss.” [34]
1 “In conclusion, applying MFCA and DOE helped both increase product
quality and reduce the adverse environmental impacts of the case study
company's production process, saving costs and improving its
competitiveness.” [03]
28 “… total improvement measures were simulated using the simple MFCA
calculation tool” [44], “The following impacts were identified through the
MFCA implementation: All input costs, product costs, and material loss
costs were clarified; Breakdown of cost for material losses per process was
also clarified; Improvement measures could immediately be simulated; and
Transparency of problematic areas was increased.” [35], “MFCA can be
used to quantitatively understand advantage and disadvantage between
outsourcer and the parties jointly engaged in the project.”[47]
21 “Out of this first MFCA cycle the development and implementation of more
than 50 improvement projects resulted.” [17]
16 “… using the concept of MFCA, the useless materials in the stock are
reflected as negative products, which are excluded from the orders’
allocation objectives. …. The problem is actualized, and the necessity for an
improvement solution is apparent.” [72]
7 “In recent three years, the corporation has gone through significant
technological innovation and management improvement with the help of
MFCA.” [67]
4 “MFCA analysis made it possible to set clear targets for a total yield rate
rather than the individual yield rates, and that the ground was fostered in
which each employee was able to propose improvements from the operations
that they were engaged in.” [33]

Actions resulting from MFCA = ACT

39 companies (53%) report measures they have taken or plan to carry out due to the
results of the MFCA analysis. 13 companies say that they have identified specific measures
for improvement, which sometimes were described explicitly: “[I]t was necessary to
consider an option of selecting wood materials that did not contain knots before the
processing […]” [46]. In detail, the following actions were taken or considered (53
occurrences in total), which also pursue the SDGs:
Table 4: Specific actions due to MFCA mentioned four times or more

- 13 -
 Sub-category
Identification of improvements
(SDG 8.2)
Implementation of loss analysis
(SDG 12.8)
Definition of measures to reduce
waste (SDG 12.5)
Establishment of mechanism to
propose improvements (SDG 8.2)
Improvement of processes (SDG
8.2)
Number of studies/ Exemplary quotes
occurrences
13 “It led to an opportunity to build a mechanism that enables to propose
improvement toward optimization that covers suppliers to OER [OMRON
RELAY & DEVICES Corporation] in the entire supply chain.” [54]
9 “Nitto Denko implemented ‘waste/loss analysis’ and ‘improvement
measures’ based on the MFCA results and achieved improvement by
approximately 10%.” [24]
6 “With respect to loss reduction, it is probably effective to minimize material
loss by improving the yield ratio and reducing waste generation during the
reactive process, and to lower the system costs by shortening the washing
time and decreasing manual operations in the switch-cleaning process.” [28]
4 “The accumulated costs of material losses strongly support the decision of
the EPI taskforce to facilitate employee training in relation to waste
reduction and to establish a suggestion scheme that includes awards and
bonuses for employee ideas about further improvement.” [09]
4 “Improvements were made to both processes by recycling of sand from
shell-removal process and wax in de-wax process.” [23]

Outlook that companies gave in respect to their MFCA use

All case studies indirectly recommend considering the success factors and obstacles
described in the section above. Half of the case studies (36 out of 73) explicitly mentioned
what should or will be considered in the company’s MFCA activities. 17 want to expand the
area where MFCA is applied and nine want to improve the application of MFCA in their
company. Besides these plans, the companies contemplate using MFCA as an analysis tool,
using MFCA in the supply chain, and including material flow analysis in design and
development activities.

Lessons learned from MFCA use

In 10 out of the 73 case studies, various lessons learned from applying MFCA are given.
The authors of the case studies explicitly describe what to consider in order to apply MFCA
effectively. Some refer to the application itself while others stress the effects of MFCA.
They mention explicitly checking the usefulness of measured variables in a company's
specific MFCA application, focusing on areas with higher chances to identify improvements,
including the supply chain into the MFCA analysis, linking MFCA with ERP (enterprise
resource planning) system, linking MFCA with a reward system, and telling success stories
of MFCA.

5. Discussion

The results above clearly show what benefits companies reap when they apply MFCA
and that accounting could contribute to IE. This should mean that companies are keen on
using MFCA, but the opposite is true (Christ and Burritt 2015). It is assumed that only a few

- 14 -
hundred companies worldwide have integrated MFCA over the last 15 years in their
management control system (Günther, Günther, et al. 2016). Moreover, MFCA is not widely
diffused in academia, as we learned in Germany where MFCA was developed through a
survey among accounting chairs (Günther, Rieckhof, et al. 2016). Interestingly, even
academic disciplines like IE do not cover MFCA. From our case studies analysis I draw the
conclusion that this low interest has nothing to do with the practical results of MFCA, but
rather that environmental issues are not at the top of the list for the vast majority of
companies and business managers when actions would require exceeding legal obligations.
For CEOs, profit maximization, increasing of shareholder value, and growth in terms of
higher sales are the guidelines for their actions. In order to get environmental issues into top
level management priorities, these issues have to have a clear and direct connection to one
of the three guidelines. Even if this connection is demonstrated, it may be ranked behind
legal issues, sales, human resources, and production issues. By synthesizing 73 MFCA case
studies, it was possible to show that MFCA could actually have an influence on the higher
prioritized issues, especially concerning profit maximization and strategy. The IE approach
would be enriched by incorporating MFCA. This view is supported by Journeault (2016, 174),
who gives “preliminary evidence that different eco-control practices support different
environmental capabilities and that their simultaneous use seems necessary to support the
implementation of a complete set of environmental capabilities”.

Limitations of this study have to be considered due to various reasons. First, the
analysis is confined to published case studies. Perhaps more experience about the
application of MFCA exists which has not been published or included in the sample, which
could have altered the results. Second, published case studies might be biased in so far that
only positive aspects of MFCA were reported and negative aspects neglected either because
the companies do not report all aspects of the application of MFCA or the authors of the
case studies do not realize or report all aspects. Third, the possibility that the authors of the
paper have interpreted the statements in the case studies falsely even though two coders
have coded the case studies. Fourth, relevant aspects may not have been analyzed either by
the authors of the case studies or by the coders due to an inadequate or incomplete coding
scheme. Therefore, the statement that MFCA helps companies to perform better in terms of
costs and in terms of environmental damage is valid so far; however, further research in this
direction could fundamentally strengthen the hypothesis or could lead to a refutation of the

- 15 -
hypothesis. With this research it is hoped to reduce the gap between the business
management field and IE (Hoffman et al. 2014) by raising the awareness of MFCA in both
communities. I am looking forward to further research which considers at the same time
economic and ecologic effects of industrial activities.

References

Ayres, Robert U. 1998. Industrial Metabolism: Work in Progress. Springer.

Bullock, RJ. 1986. “A Meta-Analysis Method for OD Case Studies.” Group & Organization
Management 11 (1–2): 33–48.
Cepeda, Gabriel, and David Martin. 2005. “A Review of Case Studies Publishing in
Management Decision 2003-2004: Guides and Criteria for Achieving Quality in
Qualitative Research.” Management Decision 43 (6): 851–76.
Chang, Shen-Ho, AnAn Chiu, Chin Ling Chu, Teng-Shih Wang, and Tsung-I. Hsieh. 2015.
“Material Flow Cost Accounting System for Decision Making: The Case of Taiwan
SME in the Metal Processing Industry.” Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting 7 (1):
117–34.
Christ, Katherine L., and Roger L. Burritt. 2015. “Material Flow Cost Accounting: A Review
and Agenda for Future Research.” Journal of Cleaner Production 108: 1378–89.
Cooper, Harris M. 1982. “Scientific Guidelines for Conducting Integrative Research
Reviews.” Review of Educational Research 52 (2): 291–302.
Dubois, Anna, and Michael Gibbert. 2010. “From Complexity to Transparency: Managing
the Interplay between Theory, Method and Empirical Phenomena in IMM Case
Studies.” Industrial Marketing Management 39 (1): 129–36.
Glass, Gene V. 1977. “Integrating Findings: The Meta-Analysis of Research.” Review of
Research in Education, 351–79.
Günther, Edeltraud, Thomas Günther, Stefanie Einhorn, Jan Endrikat, Bernhard Fietz, Xaver
Heinicke, Marc Janka, and Matthias Walz. 2016. “Internationale Studie zur
Unternehmenssteuerung und zum Umweltmanagement - Eine Auswertung erster
Ergebnisse.” Dresdner Beiträge zur Betriebswirtschaftslehre 177/16 (May): 78.
Günther, Edeltraud, Ramona Rieckhof, Daniela Schrack, and Matthias Walz. 2016.
“Materialflusskostenrechnung Im Lichte Eines Klassischen
Kostenrechnungsverständnisses–Versuch Einer Annäherung.” In Nachhaltiges
Entscheiden, 149–74. Springer.
Hoffman, Andrew J., Charles J. Corbett, Nitin Joglekar, and Peter Wells. 2014. “Industrial
Ecology as a Source of Competitive Advantage.” Journal of Industrial Ecology.
Hoon, Christina. 2013. “Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Case Studies An Approach to Theory
Building.” Organizational Research Methods 16 (4): 522–56.
Huff, Anne Sigismund. 1999. Writing for Scholarly Publication. Sage.
Hunt, Morton. 1997. How Science Takes Stock: The Story of Meta-Analysis. Russell Sage
Foundation.
Hunter, John Edward, Frank L. Schmidt, and Gregg B. Jackson. 1982. Meta-Analysis. Sage
publications Beverly Hills, California.
Jensen, Louise A., and Marion N. Allen. 1996. “Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Findings.”
Qualitative Health Research 6 (4): 553–60.

- 16 -
Journeault, Marc. 2016. “The Influence of the Eco-Control Package on Environmental and
Economic Performance: A Natural Resource-Based Approach.” Journal of
Management Accounting Research 28 (2): 149–78.
Kokubu, Katsuhiko, and Hirotsugu Kitada. 2015. “Material Flow Cost Accounting and
Existing Management Perspectives.” Journal of Cleaner Production 108: 1279–88.
Mayring, Philipp. 2003. “Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen Und Techniken.” Beltz
Deutscher Studien Verlag 6.
Miles, Matthew B., and A. Michael Huberman. 1994. “Qualitative Data Analysis: An
Expanded Sourcebook .”
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI). 2011. Material Flow Cost
Accounting - Case Examples 2011. Tokyo, Japan: METI.
Mintzberg, Henry. 1979. “An Emerging Strategy of" Direct" Research.” Administrative
Science Quarterly, 582–89.
Mulrow, Cynthia D. 1994. “Rationale for Systematic Reviews.” BMJ: British Medical Journal
309 (6954): 597.
Nakajima, Michiyasu. 2006. “The New Management Accounting Field Established by
Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA).” Kansai University Review of Business and
Commerce 8: 1–22.
Newig, Jens, and Oliver Fritsch. 2009. “The Case Survey Method and Applications in
Political Science.”
Onishi, Yasushi, Katsuhiko Kokubu, and Michiyasu Nakajima. 2008. “Implementing Material
Flow Cost Accounting in a Pharmaceutical Company.” Environmental Management
Accounting for Cleaner Production, 395.
Sandelowski, Margarete, Sharron Docherty, and Carolyn Emden. 1997. “Focus on
Qualitative Methods Qualitative Metasynthesis: Issues and Techniques.” Research in
Nursing and Health 20: 365–72.
Scapens, Robert W. 1990. “Researching Management Accounting Practice: The Role of
Case Study Methods.” The British Accounting Review 22 (3): 259–81.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0890-8389(90)90008-6.
Schmidt, Mario. 2015. “The Interpretation and Extension of Material Flow Cost Accounting
(MFCA) in the Context of Environmental Material Flow Analysis.” Journal of Cleaner
Production 108: 1310–19.
Thomas, James, and Angela Harden. 2008. “Methods for the Thematic Synthesis of
Qualitative Research in Systematic Reviews.” BMC Medical Research Methodology 8
(1): 45.
Tranfield, David, David Denyer, and Palminder Smart. 2003. “Towards a Methodology for
Developing Evidence‐informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic
Review.” British Journal of Management 14 (3): 207–22.
United Nations, downloaded on 03/28/2017. 2015. “Transforming Our World: The 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.” A/RES/70/1. United Nations.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%
20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf.
Wagner, Bernd. 2003. “Developments of Material Flow Cost Accounting in Germany.” In
Proceedings of International Symposium on Environmental Accounting 2003, 52–61.
Osaka. https://pub.iges.or.jp/pub/proceedings-international-symposium.
Walsham, Geoff. 1995. “Interpretive Case Studies in IS Research: Nature and Method.”
European Journal of Information Systems 4 (2): 74–81.
Yin, Robert K. 2014. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage publications.

- 17 -
Zhao, Shanyang. 1991. “Metatheory, Metamethod, Meta-Data-Analysis: What, Why, and
How?” Sociological Perspectives 34 (3): 377–90.
Zumsteg, Jennifer M., Joyce S. Cooper, and Michael S. Noon. 2012. “Systematic Review
Checklist.” Journal of Industrial Ecology 16: S12–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-
9290.2012.00476.x.

- 18 -
Appendix 1: List of case studies

Cita-
tion Item Publi-
Author Title Publication Title
Num- Type cation Year
ber
01 Journal 2015 Chang, Shen-Ho; Material Flow Cost Accounting System for Decision Making: Asian Journal of
Article Chiu, AnAn; Chu, The Case of Taiwan SME in the Metal Processing Industry Finance &
Chin Ling; Wang, Accounting
Teng-Shih; Hsieh,
Tsung-I.
02 Confer- 2013 Chattinnawat, Effects of Quality Levels, Lot Size, WIP and Product EMAN-EU 2013
ence Wichai Inventory to MFCA Cost-based throughout Supply Chain; conference on
Paper and material flow
Identification of improvement for multistage serial cost accounting
processes with respect to material flow cost accounting via conference
dynamic programming proceedings
03 Journal 2014 Chompu-inwai, A combination of Material Flow Cost Accounting and design Journal of
Article Rungchat; Jaimjit, of experiments techniques in an SME: the case of a wood Cleaner
Benyaporn; products manufacturing company in northern Thailand Production
Premsuriyanunt,
Papawarin
04 Journal 2014 Debnath, Somnath Expanding environmental management accounting: an International
Article experimental construct to integrate material wastes and Journal of
emission flows Business
Information
Systems 1
05 Journal 2015 Doorasamy, Benchmarking: A Strategy to Improve Environmental Asian Journal of
Article Mishelle Performance by using Material Flow Cost Accounting Business and
Emprical Study Based on a Paper Manufacturing Company Management
06 Journal 2015 Doorasamy, The Effectiveness Of Material Flow Cost Accounting (Mfca) The Journal of
Article Mishelle In Identifying Non-Product Output Costs And Its Impact On Accounting and
Environmental Performance In Paper Manufacturing Management
Companies: A Case Study In Kwa-Zulu Natal
07 Journal 2012 Fakoya, Michael The feasibility of applying material flow cost accounting as African Journal
Article Bamidele; van der an integrative approach to brewery waste-reduction of Business
Poll, Breggie decisions Management
08 Journal 2012 Fakoya, Michael, van Integrating ERP and MFCA systems for improved waste- Journal of
Article der Poll, Breggie reduction decisions in a brewery in South Africa Cleaner
Production
09 Book 2012 Herzig, Christian Material Flow Cost Accounting in a snack producer - JBC Environmental
Section Foods, the Philippines Management
Accounting: Case
Studies of South-
East Asian
Companies
10 Conferen 2013 Higashida, Akira; Introducing material flow cost accounting and creating Proceedings of
ce Paper Kokubu, Katsuhiko; visibility–analyzing MFCA in practice based on a the 7th Asia
Shinohara, Aki longitudinal case study Pacific
Interdisciplinary
Research in
Accounting
Conference
11 Conferen 2009 Hyršlová, J.; Material Flow Cost Accounting – the Case Study in the Proceedings of
ce Paper Kubáňková, M. Company Producing Tailored Furniture the 5th
International
Conference
EMAN 2009:
Environmental
Accounting –
Sustainable
Development
Indicators
12 Journal 2011 Hyršlová, Jaroslava; Material flow cost accounting (Mfca)–tool for the Business,
Article Palásek, Jiří; Vágner, optimization of corporate production processes Management
Miroslav and Education
13 Conferen 2012 ICHIMURA, Hikaru Effect of the introduction of material flow cost accounting 2012 JSPS Asian
ce Paper on environmental management CORE Program,
Nagoya
University and
VNU University
of Economics
and Business
14 Guideline 2011 International C.2 Case example 1: Lens manufacturing factory DIN EN ISO
Organization for 14051:2011-12,
Standardization Beuth, Berlin
(ISO)

- 19 -
15 Guideline 2011 International C.3 Case example 2: Furniture manufacturing factory DIN EN ISO
Organization for 14051:2011-12,
Standardization Beuth, Berlin
(ISO)
16 Guideline 2011 International C.4 Case example 3: Coffee bean manufacturing factory DIN EN ISO
Organization for 14051:2011-12,
Standardization Beuth, Berlin
(ISO)
17 Guideline 2011 International C.5 Case example 4: Pharmaceutical Industry DIN EN ISO
Organization for 14051:2011-12,
Standardization Beuth, Berlin
(ISO)
18 Guideline 2011 International C.6 Case example 5: Peanut snack producer DIN EN ISO
Organization for 14051:2011-12,
Standardization Beuth, Berlin
(ISO)
19 Book 2009 Jasch, Christine Case Study of a Brewery Environmental
Section and Material
Flow Cost
Accounting:
Principles and
Procedures
20 Conferen 2013 Kasemset, The Application of MFCA in Textile Factory: A Case Study EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Chompoonoot; conference on
Chernsupornchai, material flow
Jintana; Pala-ud, cost accounting
Wannisa conference
proceedings
21 Conferen 2013 Kasemset, The application of MFCA analysis in process improvement: Proceedings of
ce Paper Chompoonoot; a case study of plastics packaging factory in Thailand the Institute of
Sasiopars, Suchon; Industrial
Suwiphat, Sugun Engineers Asian
Conference 2013
22 Conferen 2013 Lagioia, Giovanni; Adoption of the Material flow cost accounting (MFCA) EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Tresca, Filippo A.; approach to integrate physical and monetary data in small conference on
Gallucci, Teodoro enterprises for waste-reduction decisions. Evidence from material flow
Italy. cost accounting
conference
proceedings
23 Conferen 2013 Laosiritaworn, Application of Material Flow Cost Accounting Technique in EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Wimalin S.; Lost-Wax Casting Process conference on
Kasemset, material flow
Chompoonoot; Tara, cost accounting
Chatbodin; Poovilai, conference
Walailuk proceedings
24 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 1 NITTO DENKO CORPORATION Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
25 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 2 SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
26 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 3 SUMIRON CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
27 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 4 TOYO INK MFG. CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
28 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 5 Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
29 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 6 Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
30 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 7 Canon Inc. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
31 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 8 Nagahama Canon Inc. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
32 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 9 OMRON Corporation Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011

- 20 -
33 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 10 TS Corporation Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
34 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 11 Press manufacturer A Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
35 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 12 Katagiri Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
36 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 13 GUNMA GOHKIN Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
37 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 14 Mitsuya Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
38 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 15 KOSEI ALUMINUM CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
39 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 16 MIWA LOCK Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
40 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 17 NIPPON FILCON CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
41 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 18 Shimizu Printing Inc. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
42 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 19 THE REBIRTH CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
43 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 20 GUNZE Limited Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
44 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 21 Kohshin Rubber Co., Ltd Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
45 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 22 Shinryo Co., Ltd. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
46 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 23 KODAI SANGYO CO., LTD. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
47 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 24 JFE group Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
48 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 25 GUNZE Limited Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
49 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 26 OHMI BUSSAN, Inc. Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
50 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 27 Sanden Corporation Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
51 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 28 Convenience store A Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
52 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 29 Sanden Corporation Supply chain team Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011

- 21 -
53 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 30 Panasonic Ecology Systems Co., Ltd. Supply chain Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and team Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
54 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 31 OMRON RELAY & DEVICES Corporation Supply Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and chain team Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
55 Book 2011 METI (Ministry of Case 32 Ohu Wood Works Co., Ltd. Supply chain team Material Flow
Section Economy, Trade and Cost Accounting
Industry of Japan) - MFCA Case
Examples 2011
56 Journal 2008 Nakajima, Michiyasu The New Development of Material Flow Cost Accounting Kansai University
Article (MFCA): MFCA analysis in Power Company and Comparison review of
between MFCA and TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) business and
commerce
57 Conferen 2003 Nakajima, Case Study I: Nippon Paint Co Ltd. International
ce Paper Michiyasu; Kokubu, Symposium on
Katsuhiko; Okajima, Environmental
Jun; Nashioka, Eriko; Accounting
Saio, Koichiro
58 Conferen 2003 Nakajima, Case Study II: Shionogi & Co Ltd. International
ce Paper Michiyasu; Kokubu, Symposium on
Katsuhiko; Kokuryo, Environmental
Yoshitsugu; Accounting
Nashioka, Eriko;
Goto, Fumiaki
59 Conferen 2013 Nakkiew, Wasawat Application of Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Dried Longan Manufacturer: A Case Study of Small-to- conference on
Medium Enterprise Company in Thailand material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
60 Conferen 2013 Nakkiew, Wasawat Application of Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Ceramic Kitchenware Manufacturer: A Case Study of Small- conference on
to- Medium Enterprise Company in Thailand material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
61 Book 2009 Onishi, Yasushi; Implementing material flow cost accounting in a Environmental
Section Kokubu, Katsuhiko; pharmaceutical company Management
Nakajima, Michiyasu Accounting for
Cleaner
Production
62 Conferen 2013 Rieckhof, Ramona; Economic-Ecological Optimization by Combining Material EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Günther, Edeltraud Flow Cost Accounting and Life Cycle Assessment conference on
material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
63 Journal 2012 Schaltegger, Stefan; Paying attention to environmental pay–offs: the case of an International
Article Viere, Tobias; Indonesian textile manufacturer Journal of Global
Zvezdov, Dimitar Environmental
Issues
64 Journal 2015 Schmidt, Anja; Extending the scope of material flow cost accounting– Journal of
Article Götze, Uwe; Sygulla, methodical refinements and use case Cleaner
Ronny Production
65 Conferen 2013 Schmidt, Mario; IT-supported Material Flow Cost Accounting – Case Studies EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Götze, U. from the Aluminum Industry and Implications for conference on
Methodology – Case study: Manufacturing of an extrusion material flow
recipient cost accounting
conference
proceedings
66 Conferen 2013 Schmidt, Mario; IT-supported Material Flow Cost Accounting – Case Studies EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Götze, U. from the Aluminum Industry and Implications for conference on
Methodology – Case study: Anodizing of aluminum parts material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
67 Conferen 2013 Shu, Chang; Zhao, Corporate sustainability evolvement under the guidance of International
ce Paper Guangzhou cost control-case study of a zinc and lead metallurgical Conference on
plant Information,
Business and
Education
Technology
(ICIBIT 2013)
68 Conferen 2013 Sulaiman, Maliah Material Flow Cost Accounting: Turning Waste into Gold – EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Case study: Alif Enterprise conference on
material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings

- 22 -
69 Conferen 2013 Sulaiman, Maliah Material Flow Cost Accounting: Turning Waste into Gold – EMAN-EU 2013
ce Paper Case Study EM Enterprise conference on
material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
70 Journal 2014 Sulong, Farizah; Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) Enablers and Journal of
Article Sulaiman, Maliah; Barriers: The Case of a Malaysian Small and Medium-sized Cleaner
Norhayati, Mohd Enterprise (SME); and Production
Alwi Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in Malaysia: An
SME's Case for Cleaner Production EMAN-EU 2013
conference on
material flow
cost accounting
conference
proceedings
71 Conferen 2011 Tang, Xuzhong; Simulation analysis for ERP conducted in Japanese SMEs Proceedings of
ce Paper Takakuwa, Soemon using the concept of MFCA the Winter
Simulation
Conference
72 Journal 2012 Ulhasanah, Nova; Preliminary Design of Eco-City by Using Industrial Symbiosis International
Article Goto, Naohiro and Waste Co-Processing Based on MFA, LCA, and MFCA of Journal of
Cement Industry in Indonesia Environmental
Science and
Development
73 Journal 2013 Viere, T.; Stock, M.; How to achieve energy and resource efficiency: Material Energy Related
Article Genest, A. and energy flow modeling and costing for a small and Balancing and
medium-sized company Evaluation in
Production
Engineering-
Methods and
Examples,
Technical
University of
Chemnitz

- 23 -