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Case study · Multi-Level Product Costing

See margin down to the raw material.

Trace a finished product's true cost down through every production level to the very first raw material - and watch a material's price ripple through every sale, in seconds, next to the planned recipe.

raw-material traceplan vs actualseconds
Live reconstruction

Unroll a real multi-level cost tree

Open the cost tree full screen ↗
to the raw materialcost unrolled every stage
plan vs actualon not-yet-bought prices
secondsto recalculate
The problem

Five levels deep, the true cost disappears

Costing a bought-in product is simple. A single production step is still manageable. But in multi-stage manufacturing - where one product becomes the input for the next, sometimes five or six levels deep - working out what a finished product truly cost becomes genuinely hard.

So margin risk hides in the layers, and the batch has already sold - sometimes at a loss - before anyone can see it.

What we built

The full cost, unrolled level by level

We built a way to actually see it. The full cost unrolls into every material that ever went into the product, with each material's share and price; the same cost is also shown level by level. Next to the actual figures sits the theoretical planned recipe and an instant comparison - and because planned cost uses planned prices, you can see now whether the next batch will cost more, or less, than last period.

The piece we are proudest of: we trace the single biggest material all the way down to the first raw material, and show its price moving inside every sold invoice. It runs on top of the ERP you already use - no migration - recalculates continuously, and computes in seconds.

What changed

The outcomes, in plain numbers

  • Cost visible down to the raw material, stage by stage
  • Plan vs actual, including prices you have not bought at yet
  • Recalculates continuously and answers in seconds
  • Product stopped selling for less than it cost to make
Why it matters

Could this be your workflow?

If your production has layers and your costing stops at the first one, we can unroll yours the same way - on the ERP you already run.

Best for · manufacturers with multi-stage production - food, chemicals, building materials

Have a similar workflow? Let's map it.

We start with a fixed-scope AI Opportunity Audit: we map where the hours and the risk actually are, then show you the one or two systems worth building first.

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