BETTER BACKPACKS Inc produces backpacks from vegan leather, cotton and waterproof synthetic materials in a single factory. The basic product is a standard backpack made from vegan leather lined with cotton. The standard backpack is a high-quality item and has sold well for many years. Last year the company decided to expand its product line and produce deluxe backpacks for special orders. These backpacks differ from the standard in that they vary in size, contain the finest waterproof synthetic materials and have the buyer's name embossed on them. Bergman, the CEO was reviewing the cost reports. "That's ridiculous!" said Bergman. Why do we go on producing those standard backpacks when we're able to make so much more on the deluxe backpacks!" "I agree that the deluxe business is looking better and better," said the company's marketing manager. "And there seems to be plenty of deluxe work out there particularly since the competition has not been able to match our prices. Did you know that Herscal, our biggest competitor, charges over $60 a unit for its deluxe items? Now, that what I call ripping off your customers!" A breakdown of the manufacturing costs for each of BB'S product line is as follows. Manufacturing overhead is applied to products on the basis of machine hours. The estimated manufacturing overhead of $130,000 and each backpack requires 30 minutes of machine time. a. The selling prices for each type of product b. Standard backpacks are produced in batches of 200 and deluxe backpacks are produced in batches of 20. Each time a batch is produced a set-up is required. A setup for the standard items requires 1 hour and the set up for a deluxe item requires 3 hours. c. All backpacks are inspected to ensure quality. A total of 250 inspection hours is spent on the standard backpacks and a total of 750 inspection hours are spent on the deluxe backpacks each month. d. The company is considering using ABC as an alternative to the traditional costing method currently being used. After some analysis the following information about the MOH has been determined: FOR ALL CALCULATIONS ASSUME THERE ARE NO WORK IN PROCESS OR FINISHED GOODS INVENTORIES. That is, all units produced are sold. ( Cost of goods manufactured = Cost of goods sold) 1. Compute the current manufacturing overhead rate being used. Show computations. 2. Compute the gross profit in $ and %, in total and per unit, for each product under the current method of allocating MOH using machine hours. Show computations. 3. Using ABC determine the amount of MOH cost that would be applied to each standard and deluxe backpack, in total and per unit. 4. Compute the gross profit in $ and %, in total and per unit, for each product under ABC. Show computations. 5. Evaluate the president's concerns about the profitability of the two product lines. Would you recommend that the company stop producing the standard backpack? Explain why. 6. The company's marketing manager stated" the competition has not been able to come close to being able to offer prices as low as ours". What do you think is the reason for this