Bowman Specialists Inc. (BSI) manufactures specialized equipment for polishing optical lenses. There are two models?one (A-25) principally used for fine eyewear and the other (A-10) for lenses used in binoculars, cameras, and similar equipment.

The following table shows the manufacturing cost of each unit is calculated, using activity-based costing, for these manufacturing cost pools

Cost Pools Allocation Base Costing Rate Materials handling Manufacturing supervision Number of parts Hours of machine time per $ 3.30 part $23.40 per hour Assembly Number of parts $ 5.40 per part Machine setup Each setup $47.20 per setup Inspection and Logged hours per $44.00 testing hour Packaging Logged hours per $19.00 hour BSI currently sells the A-10 model for $5,070 and the A-25 model for $1,990. Manufacturing costs and activity usage for the two products follow: A-10 A-25 Direct $139.76 $65.44 materials Number of 126 97 parts Machine- 7.50 5.00 hours Inspection 1.50 0.85 time Packing 0.95 0.50 time Setups 36 18 Required: 1. Calculate the product cost and product margin for each product. 2. A new competitor has entered the market for lens-polishing equipment with a superior product at significantly lower prices, $2,390 for the A-10 model and $1,865 for the A-25 model. To try to compete, BSI has made some radical improvements in the design and manufacturing of its two products. The materials costs and activity usage rates have been decreased significantly, as follows: A-10 A-25 Direct $88.65 $47.45 materials Number of parts 120 91 Machine-hours 7.5 3.0 Inspection time 1.5 0.75 Packing time 0.85 0.30 Setups 18 18 2-a. Calculate the total product costs with the new activity usage data. 2-b. Can BSI make a positive gross margin with the new costs, assuming that it must meet the price set by the new competitor? 4. What cost management method might be useful to BSI at this time?