QuantumTM manufactures electronic testing and measurement instruments. Many products are custom-designed with recent orders for function generators, harmonic analyzers, logic analyzers, temperature measurement instruments, and data-logging instruments. The company prices its instruments at 30 percent over estimated cost (excluding administrative and selling costs).
Recently, senior management has noted that its product mix has changed. Specifically, the company is receiving fewer large orders for instruments that are relatively simple to produce, and customers are saying that the company is not price competitive. The company is, however, receiving more small orders for complex instruments, and customers appear quite happy to pay QuantumTM's price. This situation was discussed at a weekly management meeting. Jason Norton, VP of operations, blamed the company's antiquated cost accounting system. "Look," he said, "if you have bad cost information, you're going to have bad prices, and we're still doing product costing the way companies did it in the 1930s. I've been reading articles about activity-based costing, and they indicate that out-of-date costing systems make simple products look too costly and complex products too cheap. If that's true, it would explain why we're not price competitive for simple products."
The meeting ended with a decision to hire a consultant to conduct a preliminary ABC study to determine how a switch to ABC would affect product cost. The consulting firm selected two recent orders for study: a 900-unit order for a temperature-monitoring device and an order for 1 harmonic analyzer. The costs and prices charged were as follows:

In the current system, overhead is applied based on an estimate of $50,000,000 of annual overhead and $10,000,000 of direct labor cost. The consultants have broken the $50,000,000 of annual overhead down into six cost pools and identified related cost drivers as indicated in Exhibit 1. The consultants have also found that the monitor and analyzer make use of the cost drivers as indicated in Exhibit 2.
Required
a. Based on the consultants' work to date, calculate the ABC cost per unit of each product.
b. The consultants have completed their job, and QuantumTM has adopted an ABC system as indicated in Exhibit 1. Recently, the company received an order for a unique data-logging device. The device will require $9,000 of components and $3,000 of direct labor along with the following requirements:
Use related to a data logging device:
Number of design hours ..........................27
Number of unique parts ...........................17
Number of inspections ...........................12
Number of setups ...................................1
Machine hours ....................................10
The customer has indicated that it currently has a low bid from another company of $22,000. Calculate the ABC cost of the data- logging device.
c. Suppose QuantumTM meets its competitor's price and gets the job. What will be the impact on company profit? In answering this question, make the following assumptions:
1. 40 percent of design costs are fixed, and 60 percent vary with design hours.
2. 30 percent of material ordering and handling costs are fixed, and 70 percent vary with the number of unique parts.
3. 50 percent of inspection costs are fixed, and 50 percent are variable.
4. 80 percent of setup costs are fixed, and 20 percent are variable.
5. 20 percent of labor-related costs are fixed, and 80 percent are variable.
6. Prices charged to this customer or other customers in the future will not be impacted by the current deal. This follows because each order is unique.
Exhibit 1

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Temperature Harmonic Monitor Analyzer Component cost per unit Direct labor per unit Overhead per unit 250 $2,500 25 500 2,500 120 Cost per unit Markup at 30% 395 5,500 119 1,650 2$ $7,150 Price per unit Number of units 514 900 Value of order $462,600 $7,150 Cost Pools Annual Cost Annual Driver Value Product design Material ordering and handling Inspection Setup Labor-related overhead Depreciation of plant and equipment $ 8,000,000 10,000,000 3,500,000 2,500,000 8,000,000 18,000,000 $50,000,000 160,000 design hours 125,000 unique part's 560,000 inspections 80,000 setups $10,000,000 direct labor 225,000 machine hours