Question

In: Accounting

SmartAuto Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in...

SmartAuto Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in the production of two parts: Part #127 and Part #234. Part #127 produced the highest volume of activity, and for many years it was the only part produced by the plant. Five years ago, Part #234 was added. Part #234 was more difficult to manufacture and required special tooling and setups. Profits increased for the first three years after the addition of the new product. In the last two years, however, the plant faced intense competition, and its sales of Part #127 dropped. In fact, the plant showed a small loss in the most recent reporting period.

Much of the competition was from foreign sources, and the plant manager was convinced that the foreign producers were guilty of selling the part below the cost of producing it. The following conversation between Patricia Wang, plant manager, and James Tin, divisional marketing manager, reflects the concerns of the division about the future of the plant and its products.

JAMES:           You know, Patricia, the divisional manager is real concerned about the plant's trend. He indicated that in this budgetary environment, we can't afford to carry plants that don't show a profit. We shut one down just last month because it couldn't handle the competition.

PATRICIA:      James, you and I both know that Part #127 has a reputation for quality and value. It has been a mainstay for years. I don't understand what's happening.

JAMES:           I just received a call from one of our major customers concerning Part #127. He said that a sales representative from another firm offered the part at $20 per unit – $11 less than what we charge. It's hard to compete with a price like that. Perhaps the plant is simply obsolete.

PATRICIA:      No. I don't buy that. From my sources, I know we have good technology. We are efficient.

And it's costing a little more than $21 to produce that part. I don't see how these companies can afford to sell it so cheaply. I'm not convinced that we should meet the price. Perhaps a better strategy is to emphasize producing and selling more of Part #234. Our margin is high on this product, and we have virtually no competition for it.

JAMES:           You may be right. I think we can increase the price significantly and not lose business. I called a few customers to see how they would react to a 25 percent increase in price, and they all said that they would still purchase the same quantity as before.

PATRICIA:      It sounds promising. However, before we make a major commitment to Part #234, I think we had better explore other possible explanations. I want to know how our production costs compare to those of our competitors. Perhaps we could be more efficient and find a way to earn our normal return on Part #127. The market is so much bigger for this part. I'm not sure we can survive with only Part #234. Besides, my production people hate that part. It's very difficult to produce.

After her meeting with James, Patricia requested an investigation of the production costs and comparative efficiency. She received approval to hire a consulting group to make an independent investigation. After a three-month assessment, the consulting group provided the following information on the plant's production activities and costs associated with the two products:

Part #127

Part #234

Production

      500,000

      100,000

Selling price

        $31.86

        $24.00

Prime cost per unit

         $9.53

          $8.26

Number of production runs

            100

             200

Receiving orders

            400

          1,000

Machine hours

      125,000

        60,000

Direct labor hours

      250,000

        22,500

Engineering hours

         5,000

          5,000

Material moves

            500

             400

* Calculated using a plantwide rate based on direct labor hours. This is the current way of assigning the plant's overhead to its products.

The consulting group recommended switching the overhead assignment to an activity-based approach. It maintained that activity-based cost assignment is more accurate and will provide better information for decision making. To facilitate this recommendation, it grouped the plant's activities into homogeneous sets with the following costs:

Overhead:

Setup costs

        $    240,000

Machine costs

           1,750,000

Receiving costs

           2,100,000

Engineering costs

           2,000,000

Materials-handling costs

             900,000

Total

       $ 6,990,000

Part 1: Compute overhead and gross margin using traditional costing.

Part 2: Select the best cost driver and compute overhead rates for each cost pool.

Part 3: Compute overhead and gross margin using Activity-based costing.

Part 4: Increase in price for Product 234 by 25%.

Part 5: Two reasonable recommendation to improve profitability (Explain)

Solutions

Expert Solution

Please give positive ratings so I can keep answering. If you have any queries please comment. Thanks!
Part 1: Compute overhead and gross margin using traditional costing:
Total Part#127 Part#234
Direct Labor Hours (D)        272,500.00      250,000.00           22,500.00
Manufacturing overhead (A)     6,990,000.00
Manufacturing overhead per direct labor hour (C=A/D)                  25.65
Allocated Manufacturing overhead (E=C*D)     6,990,000.00 6,412,844.04        577,155.96
Part#127 Part#234 Total
Selling Price (B)                  31.86                24.00
No. of units sold (F)        500,000.00      100,000.00        600,000.00
Sales (G=B*F) 15,930,000.00 2,400,000.00 18,330,000.00
Prime cost (9.53, 8.26 * F)     4,765,000.00      826,000.00     5,591,000.00
Manufacturing overhead     6,412,844.04      577,155.96     6,990,000.00
Gross Margin (H)     4,752,155.96      996,844.04     5,749,000.00
Product Margin (I=H/F)                     9.50                  9.97
Part 2 and Part 3 J K L=J+K M N=M/L O=N*J P=N*K Q=O+P
Calculation of product margin under ABC costing: Overhead Allocation
Activities Part#127 Part#234 Total Activity Overhead Overhead cost Activity Rate Part#127 Part#234 Total
Number of production runs                100.00              200.00                300.00 Setup costs       240,000.00              800.00           80,000.00        160,000.00         240,000.00
Machine hours        125,000.00        60,000.00        185,000.00 Machine costs    1,750,000.00                  9.46     1,182,432.43        567,567.57      1,750,000.00
Receiving orders                400.00          1,000.00             1,400.00 Receiving costs    2,100,000.00          1,500.00        600,000.00     1,500,000.00      2,100,000.00
Engineering hours             5,000.00          5,000.00           10,000.00 Engineering costs    2,000,000.00              200.00     1,000,000.00     1,000,000.00      2,000,000.00
Material moves                500.00              400.00                900.00 Materials-handling costs       900,000.00          1,000.00        500,000.00        400,000.00         900,000.00
Total Overhead 6,990,000.00     3,362,432.43     3,627,567.57      6,990,000.00
Part 4: Increase in price for Product 234 by 25%. Prime cost (9.53, 8.26 * F)     4,765,000.00        826,000.00      5,591,000.00
Sell Price per unit                  24.00 B Total Cost     8,127,432.43     4,453,567.57 12,581,000.00
Increase by 25%                     6.00 U=B*25% Sales 15,930,000.00     2,400,000.00 18,330,000.00
No. of units sold        100,000.00 F Margin (S)     7,802,567.57    (2,053,567.57)      5,749,000.00
Increase in profit        600,000.00 V=U*F Product Margin (T=S/F)                  15.61                (20.54)
Current Margin    (2,053,567.57) S So we can see that the differences are remarkable. Under traditional costing Part#234 looks like a profitable product but under ABC its generating net loss.
Revised Margin (1,453,567.57) W=S+V
Even after increasing the sell price Part#234 is still in loss.
Part 5: Two reasonable recommendation to improve profitability (Explain)
Company should improve the production run. For 100,000 units production is high as compared to Part#127.
Company should increase the sell price. Judging by the cost incurred product is selling at a very low sell price.

Related Solutions

SmartAuto Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in...
SmartAuto Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in the production of two parts: Part #127 and Part #234. Part #127 produced the highest volume of activity, and for many years it was the only part produced by the plant. Five years ago, Part #234 was added. Part #234 was more difficult to manufacture and required special tooling and setups. Profits increased for the first three years after the addition of the new...
Scenario Cartech Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes...
Scenario Cartech Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in the production of two parts: Part 271 and Part 342. Part 271 produces the highest volume of activity, and for many years it was the only part produced by the plant. Five years ago, Part 342 was added. Part 342 was more difficult to manufacture and required special tooling and setups. Profits increased for the first three years after the addition of the...
St. Louis Machining Company is engaged in the production of machine parts. One division specializes in...
St. Louis Machining Company is engaged in the production of machine parts. One division specializes in the production of two machine parts: Part #123 and Part #456. Historically, the profitability of the division has been tied to Part #123. However, in the past two years, the division has been facing intense competition and the sales of this part have declined. The following conversation between Betty DeRose, division manager, and Sandy Beach, marketing manager, reflects the concerns of the division's top...
Product-Costing Accuracy, Corporate Strategy, ABC Autotech Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for...
Product-Costing Accuracy, Corporate Strategy, ABC Autotech Manufacturing is engaged in the production of replacement parts for automobiles. One plant specializes in the production of two parts: Part #127 and Part #234. Part #127 produced the highest volume of activity, and for many years it was the only part produced by the plant. Five years ago, Part #234 was added. Part #234 was more difficult to manufacture and required special tooling and setups. Profits increased for the first three years after...
Precise Parts is a workshop that specializes in the production of electric motor shafts. For the...
Precise Parts is a workshop that specializes in the production of electric motor shafts. For the E300 Electric Motor, the average axle size is the inches shown in the table below, with one standard deviation as shown in the same table. A normal distribution is considered to follow. Average size Shaft (µ) 0.55in Standard Deviation (σ) 0.10 in What is the probability that a randomly selected axis is between .55 and .65 inches? • What is the probability that a...
juhania runs a manufacturing plant for the production of one of its products – the Fizzberry....
juhania runs a manufacturing plant for the production of one of its products – the Fizzberry. The budget expects production and sales of 8,000 units per month . Direct materials standard costs per unit; •Fizz 0.2kg at £10 per kg •Berries 4kg at £1.10 per kg The following data has been collected for April 2020:Actual materials used ;•1,440kg of Fizz at a total cost of £13,824 •24,000kg of berries at a total cost of £21,600• The output was 7,000 units...
Ronlon Parts, Inc., manufactures bumpers (plastic or metal, depending on the plant) for automobiles. Each bumper...
Ronlon Parts, Inc., manufactures bumpers (plastic or metal, depending on the plant) for automobiles. Each bumper passes through three processes: Molding, Drilling, and Painting. In August, the Molding Department of the Oklahoma City plant reported the following data: a. In Molding, all direct materias are added at the beginning of the process. b. Beginning work in process consisted of 9,000 units, 20 percent complete with respect ot direct labor and overhead. Costs in the beginning inventory included direct materials, $270,000;...
Car Parts Company manufactures a part for use in its production of automobiles. The costs per...
Car Parts Company manufactures a part for use in its production of automobiles. The costs per unit when 10,000 items are produced are: Direct materials $6 Direct manufacturing labour 30 Variable manufacturing overhead 12 Fixed manufacturing overhead 16 Total $64 Auto Company has offered to sell to Car Parts Company 10,000 units of the part for $60. The plant facilities could be used to manufacture another part at a savings of $90,000 if Car Parts accepts the offer. In addition,...
Quick Fix Ltd is a manufacturing company engaged in the production of adhesives. The company has...
Quick Fix Ltd is a manufacturing company engaged in the production of adhesives. The company has not performed well over the past three financial years. In order to improve on the poor past profits, the board approved a R1 000 000 advertising promotion during the year ended 31 December 2018 in order to generate increased sales in the future. The advertising promotion took place (and was paid for) during December 2018. The accountant insists on recognizing the R1 000 000...
Quick Fix Ltd is a manufacturing company engaged in the production of adhesives. The company has...
Quick Fix Ltd is a manufacturing company engaged in the production of adhesives. The company has not performed well over the past three financial years. In order to improve on the poor past profits, the board approved a R1 000 000 advertising promotion during the year ended 31 December 2018 in order to generate increased sales in the future. The advertising promotion took place (and was paid for) during December 2018. The accountant insists on recognizing the R1 000 000...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT