Costing

From budget to the latest forecast, how are your product costs changing, and which production cost components explain the change?

Analyse product cost by recipe, raw materials, packaging, labour, energy and production overhead. Compare budget, actual and forecast versions to see where the change comes from.

Tools

Each tool starts with a question; the sample scenarios run on synthetic demo data.

1.2

Try it yourself

Product Cost What-if Simulator

Interactive example

How do changes in recipe, labour and energy assumptions affect your product’s unit cost?

Change the recipe, scrap rate, production time and energy use. Calculate the new unit cost and the total cost impact at the planned volume.

Nervay / Costing / Product Cost What-if Simulator

Synthetic demo

Product cost: what-if simulation

Synthetic demo

Chocolate wafer · 40 g
Gebze plant
FY 2027
55 M units a year
USD

Assumptions

Recipe

Current · V2Alternative · V3

Cocoa blend price

Packaging price

Scrap rate

Base: 3.2%

Production

Labour time

Energy per 1,000 units

Capacity use

Base: 78%

The base is locked; inputs change only the scenario.

Base unit cost

0.440USD/unit

Scenario unit cost

0.411USD/unit

−6.5%

Annual cost impact

−1.58M USD

55 M units, fixed volume

Capacity use

78% → 85%

Unit cost bridgeUSD/unit

0.440

−0.018

−0.006

−0.003

−0.002

0.411

The scale starts at 0.374.

Financial impact

Base 0.440 → scenario 0.411 USD/unit (−6.5%). Annual cost impact −1.58 M USD.

Detailed tables

Cost components (USD/unit)
Line	Base	Scenario	Difference
Recipe / materials	0.250	0.232	−0.018
Cocoa blend	0.110	0.101	−0.009
Flour and sugar	0.055	0.052	−0.003
Fat and other	0.035	0.033	−0.002
Packaging	0.050	0.046	−0.004
Labour	0.067	0.061	−0.006
Energy	0.035	0.032	−0.003
Production overhead	0.088	0.086	−0.002
Total	0.440	0.411	−0.029

AI Decision Layer

Sample explanation / rule-based

This scenario cuts the unit cost by 6.5%; at 55 M units the annual saving is 1.58 M USD.

The largest part of the net change is materials: 62%.

Checks before deciding

1Confirm the recipe change with quality tests.
2Check the scrap and speed assumptions line by line.
3Review the capacity effect together with the overhead allocation.
4Compare the price assumptions with purchasing contracts.

Review the assumptions

Volume is fixed at 55 M units. Scrap applies to all materials: (1 − base scrap) ÷ (1 − scenario scrap). As capacity use rises, 15% of labour and energy and 30% of production overhead spread over more units. The alternative recipe uses 4% less cocoa blend and flour-sugar, and 5% less fat and packaging film. Quality, inventory and purchase commitments are left out of this example.

1.1

AI Scenario Analysis

Which key assumptions change product costs between Budget, Forecast 1 and Forecast 2?

Compare raw material prices, recipe consumption, labour rates, energy tariffs and production volume across scenarios for the same product. Break the unit cost difference into its components.

1.3

Cost Component Investigation

How much of the product cost variance comes from price changes, and how much from consumption, efficiency and overhead allocation?

Compare budget with actuals, or two forecast versions. See the effects of material price and usage, labour rates and hours, energy tariffs and consumption, and overhead allocation separately.

1.4

AI Cost Decision Layer

Which recipe, efficiency and capacity actions should come first to reach the target product cost?

Compare alternative materials, scrap reduction, labour efficiency and capacity-use scenarios. Weigh each action’s unit cost impact under quality and production constraints.