The Beginning ...
It all started on a tuesday morning when an announcement for the Yakult trip was made during our first Cost Accounting lecture. We were tempted by the free bottle of Yakult to be given to those who signed up. Moreover, it would be an exclusive experience for us who could attend the excursion as there were limited vacancies for the Accountancy Group.

All these enticed us right from the start and we signed up immediately. By the end of the trip, we were glad to find it a truly enriching trip for us.

1 most memorable experience:
It is really hard to come up with 1 most memorable experience from the trip. Reason being... THERE IS JUST TOO MANY OF THEM!!

Well, one of our most memorable experience from the trip would be the ground-breaking news that everyone received during the talk: The little bottle of Yakult drink that we consume actually contains millions of live bacteria?! I repeat, LIVE BACTERIA!! Can you actually imagine the millions of live bacteria that moves in your body after you drank the Yakult?!

During the talk, we actually saw with our very own eyes how the live bacteria exists in a bottle of Yakult! (Of course, our eyes aren't that mighty. We saw them through a microscopic projection on the screen. (:D))

This was definitely a refreshing and unforgettable experience for all of us. I believe that none of us will ever forget how we saw the bacteria wriggling and the discomfort we felt from within after consuming the drink.

2 ways the visit helped in understanding the costing module:
What are direct and indirect labour?! What are direct and indirect materials?! How does all these linked up to the production of a product?! And how do you determine the behaviour of these manufacturing costs?

It has never been clearer to us then before. Now, we even had a real-life example to show us how to differentiate these costs. From the trip, we also understood that in a real-life situation such as the production factory, not all the required information are readily available and coherently presented. Thus, all of us would now be more appreciative of the scenarios given in the module since those information are more readily available and coherently summarised for tutorial discussion purposes!

Also, by looking at the production process of Yakult, we now have a better idea of how support departments work with the production department. For example, the Repair & Maintenance department plays a crucial role in ensuring the speedy restoration of the production process should the machine breakdown.

We thought that it was going to be an unlucky day for us as it was just too coincidental that the production process was halted due to the machine breakdown during our trip. But, it must had been a blessing in disguise for all of us who were there. We witnessed how the efficient recovery support from the Repair & Maintenance department could quickly restore the production process to reduce further delay which could cause the company to lose money! Kudos to the Repair & Maintenance department for their impressive support. We also witnessed how the Yakult production line works. (:P)

3 key learning points:
Through this trip, we had definitely benefited alot!

Firstly, we learnt about how Yakult is being manufactured! Afterall, it is a learning trip to Yakult!
Manufacturing the Yakult drink is not easy at all! It takes 7 days to ferment the milk solids at a desired temperature which was maintained and monitored cautiously. Any mistake during this fermentation stage would lead to wastage of the whole barrel of milk! Also, the R&D department has to work hard continuously to develop new flavours, as well as to improve the quality of their products in order to sustain Yakult's competitiveness in the market.

The speaker also shared with us how the daily production processes are being planned. In the morning, there would be a summary report on the required production volume for the day. Then the production department will produce the desired volume. By the late afternoon, the delivery men would report how many orders to be fulfilled and this would form the basis for preparing the summary report for the following day.

Secondly, we get to experience how the concepts introduced in Cost Accounting module are applied in the 'real' world outside of school! It is no longer as "dull and dry" as what we had read in books. We could now visualise the scenario better and this helped us to be able to work out the impact. From this trip, our tour around the factory allowed us to see how the production processes were being executed with our own eyes and how we can put what we learnt into good use. This would definitely give us a rough idea of how Cost Accounting principles and concepts are being practised in the real world.

Thirdly, we also understood from the trip that factories would usually practise Normal Accounting instead of Actual Accounting so that the costs and expenses could be estimated in advance to provide the decision-makers more timely information on the financial status and progress of the factory.

After having said so much, I guess some pictures would make our sharing even more interesting! Here you go. The pictures we had taken during this trip unfold themselves here ...


1) Yakult factory @Senoko



2) Any takers for this giant bottle of Yakult?

3) Warm Reception Area @Yakult

4) An array of Yakult products on display!

5) Certificate of quality and standard

6) Our free bottle of Yakult drink, let's gulp it down quickly!

7) Mr Yap in action ... extracting sample of Yakult drink!

8) The live bacteria wriggling and dancing under the microscopic view

9) Manufacturing Flowchart

10) Yakult up for grabs by our lecturers & students

Done by: Jacqueline Wei, Lee Weiloong, Ng Eng Seng, Jeremy Chua & Ng Swee Sin (ACC, Yr 2)

When we first heard of this trip during the lecture, some of us were a bit unwilling and apprehensive about whether it is going to be a worthwhile trip. However, that was before the trip. Eventually, we had to convince each other to go for the excursion as we knew we did not have I & E lesson in the morning as our I & E teacher, Mrs. Sue Tan was also coming along with us.

1 most memorable experience:
One of our most memorable experience will be the display of the bacteria named “L. casei strain Shirota” after Dr. Shirota himself, under the microscope shown on the projector. This certainly caught our eyes as we were given a first-hand chance to observe the behaviour of the Minoru Shirota strain. We have never seen anything that tiny in size literally moving, thus making it an unforgettable and one-of-a-kind experience for us.

2 ways the visit helped in understanding the costing module:
Basically, this trip helped us to better understand the costing module as Yakult has a very straight forward chain of costs in manufacturing the drink itself. From cultivating the bacteria to making the mixture to bottling it up or to delivering it for sale, a cost is incurred in every single manufacturing step of the Yakult drink. Any other organisations out there would similarly have to incur some kind of expense, whether directly or indirectly, through buying of direct materials or to the cost of direct labour or to manufacturing overheads or period costs. All these costs are incurred as a result of their daily operations.

Another area that we had learnt during this Yakult excursion is that, every step and its associated cost in the manufacturing process needs to be recorded and monitored closely. This is absolutely necessary for the organisation to make strategic decisions based on the results, which would prove to be beneficial to the growth and development of the company in the long run. This ties in with what we have learnt as the four management processes: planning, directing operations, decision making and controlling.

3 key learning points:
Firstly, we learnt that the process of manufacturing a drink is very difficult and complicated. Research and Development work is involved to constantly monitor and improve the quality of the current product to satisfy the customers and to attract more customers.

At the same time, we realised that successful sales of a product is not just about procuring and processing of the raw materials to make a quality product. It also involves frequent maintenance of machinery and products in process. Manufacturers have to be stringent on the cleanliness of their staff, equipment and the environment, especially in the field of manufacturing food products. This might incur additional costs to the production. The total costs involved in the manufacturing of this product is relatively huge, compared to the low price of a single product since Yakult is being mass produced in a highly automated process.

Next, Cost & Managerial Accounting (CMA) as what we have learnt in school is barely what it is experienced out there in the world. Yakult itself already has so many processes that cover many key concepts learnt. Through this visit, we get to see how these key concepts were being integrated and "string together".

Lastly, such trip can let us better understand certain concepts and theories that may otherwise baffle us when first introduced in school. Seeing how things actually work allows us to understand their applications in the business world thoroughly and easily. Hence, it made the learning of CMA easier and make us realised that it is both meaningful and useful to learn CMA.

In conclusion, we were generally pleased with what we have gained and learnt from this excursion and wish that the School of BA would organise more of such trips for us so that we can relate the things that were taught in school to real world applications.

With thanks to all of our teachers who have brought us there.

Done by: Lin MingKai, Lui Jia Huey, Lee Teck Hui, Lim Hui Huang & Leonard Cheng (BS, Yr 2)