Activity-based costing (ABC) recognizes that, in modern factories, most manufacturing costs are determined by the amount of ‘activities’ (such as the number of production runs per month, and the amount of production equipment idle time). The key to effective cost control is therefore optimizing the efficiency of these activities. Both lifecycle costing and activity-based costing recognize that, in the typical modern factory, the avoidance of disruptive events (such as machine breakdowns and quality control failures) is of far greater importance than (for example) reducing the costs of raw materials. Activity-based costing also focuses less on direct labor as a cost driver and looks instead on activities that drive costs, As the provision of a service or the production of a product component.