Introduction of material flow cost accounting (MFCA) to the supply chain: a questionnaire study on the challenges of constructing a low-carbon supply chain to promote resource efficiency

The purpose of the present article is to identify the requirements and challenges of promoting a low-carbon supply chain caused by the introduction of material flow cost accounting (MFCA). To this end, the role of an MFCA leader company within the low-carbon supply chain was examined. Next, the results of a questionnaire study that was carried out in 2012 were shown in the second part of the paper. The questionnaire was sent to the listed industrial enterprises (1,561 enterprises) in Japan, and the response rate was 22.8% (356 questionnaires received). The status quo of information sharing between the buyers and suppliers along the supply chain, preconditions, and requirements for introducing MFCA was considered. The study showed that setting environmental indicators as performance evaluation criteria of a company's purchasing department, as well as explaining the performance of MFCA to the purchasing department on the one hand, and promoting inter-organizational information sharing between buyers and suppliers on the other, are important steps in order to effectively introduce MFCA in the supply chain.