Brighton Rock Manufacturing Company[1]

The background:

Graham Hale, Controller of Brighton Rock Manufacturing Company (BRMC), a local machining shop with several computer controlled machine tools, was contemplating the pricing for a new order that had just arrived. The customer requested that BRMC submit a bid for the fabrication of 100 units of a complex product that the company had never built before (although it is well within their capabilities and compatible with current products). BRMC’s engineers would have to spend time developing the process routines to machine the components required for the product. Hale wondered whether the usual markup of 35% over manufacturing cost would really be adequate for this order.

BRMC’s current product costing system:

Materials for the order would cost $12.40 per unit of finished product. The product would require 0.6 direct labor hours and 0.8 machine hours per unit manufactured. The company’s direct labor rate is $20 per direct labor hour. Overhead is currently applied to products using two rates: 200% of direct labor dollars (cost), and $70 per machine hour.

Thus the cost per unit of this order would be calculated as follows:

Direct materials $ 12.40

Direct labor 0.6 * $20 12.00

DL based overhead 200% * $12.00 24.00

MH based overhead 0.8 * $70 56.00

Total cost per unit produced $104.40

The total cost of the order would therefore be 100 * $104.40, or $10,440. Adding the 35% markup, BRMC would bid $10,440 * 1.35, or $14,094 for the job. Hale’s concern is concerned that this bid would not pay for all the engineering effort, and also the selling and administrative expenses, and still leave any actual profit.

What about a different costing system: ABC?

Hale recalls that several months ago a summer intern from performed a simple activity-based study of BRMC’s operations as part of a work-study project. Hale searched his files and found the report the student had prepared. He saw that the student had developed the following list of activities, cost drivers, and activity rates.

ACTIVITY	COST DRIVER	ACTIVITY RATE
Process customer orders	Number of customer orders	$100 / order
Provide engineering design and support	Engineering hours	$75 / engineering hour
Purchase and receive components	Number of purchase orders	$150 / purchase order
Schedule production and perform first-item inspections	Number of production runs	$200 / production run
Set up machines	Number of set up hours	$80 / set up hour
Machine processing	Machine hours	$60 / machine hour
Direct labor assembly	Direct labor hours	$50 / DLH

Hale went on to estimate the quantity of each activity cost driver this new order would require.

Activity cost driver	Quantity for 100 units
Number of purchase orders	10
Number of production runs*	6
Setup time per production run	3 hours
Number of customer orders	1
Engineering design and process time	20 hours

* A separate production run would be required to custom machine some of the components before assembly into the final product.

REQUIRED:

Hale speaks of “administrative” expenses that the bid (using traditional costing) might not be able to cover. What might some of these expenses be? Is their quantity likely to be affected by this order? Explain.

We listed the steps in developing an ABC system as being:

Define activities.

Identify the cost of each activity.

Define a cost driver for each activity.

Calculate an activity (overhead) rate for each activity.

Use the activity rates to assign activity costs to the product.

The table does not show the total cost of each activity. Be certain you understand where the result of steps (a), (c) and (d) are reflected in the table.

Identify each activity in the table as Unit, Batch, or Product level.

Calculate the total cost of the order using activity based overhead application. Don’t forget the materials and labor costs. What would the bid to the customer be if BRMC continues to use the 35% mark up?

Explain why the number you obtain is so different from the one Hale obtained using the company’s current overhead application rates. Is it better, or just different? Give at least two factors that suggest the company should use activity based costing for its specialty products.

BRIGHTON ROCK MANUFACTURING CO.

Notes on Brighton Rock:

Total cost per unit produced:

100

units ordered

1. Remember there are TWO costs of direct labor workers to the company:

Direct materials

$12.40

a. DIRECT LABOR: what they PAY the people.

Direct labor 0.6 * $20

12.00

$20

per DLH

0.6

DLH/unit

b. Direct labor OVERHEAD SUPPORT - this is the ACTIVITY that is ALLOCATED based

DL based OH 200% * $12

24.00

200%

of DL$

on direct labor.

MH based OH 0.8 * $70

56.00

$70

per MH

0.8

MH/unit

2. A BATCH level activity is done ONCE for as many UNITS as you need to process.

Total cost

$104.40

It doesn't depend on units, but rather on how many times you do that ACTIVITY.

3. In Question 2, I am asking for a VERY SHORT explanation of how BRMC estimated total cost

Markup

35%

of mfg cost

and total units of activity, and calculated the activity rate.

Total order cost for 100 units

$10,440.00

total cost to produce using TRADITIONAL costing

This is a question of UNDERSTANDING. You are given an activity RATE, but not

Total bid @ mfg cost * 1.35

$14,094.00

total bid to customer with 35% markup

where (what numbers) the rate came from. Just do ONE rate, not all of them.

4. For Question 1: you are calculating what it will cost BRMC to make this order. Why does

ACTIVITY

COST DRIVER

ACTIVITY RATE

it matter? What other "numbers" (revenues, costs) in the company will that

Process customer orders

# of orders

$100

per order

affect? What WON'T it affect?

Provide engineering design / support

Engineering hr

$75

per eng hr

Purchase / receive components

# of PO's

$150

per PO

Schedule production / 1st inspection

# of prod runs

$200

per prod run

Set up machines

# of setup hrs

$80

per SU hr

Machine process

machine hr

$60

per MH

DL assembly

DLH

$50

per DLH

Cost drivers required by the order:

# of PO's

10

# of production runs

6

SU hr per production run

3

# of customer orders

1

Engineering hr

20

Activity levels:

3. Process customer orders

Provide engineering design / support

Purchase / receive components

Schedule production / 1st inspection

Set up machines

Machine process

DL assembly

4. Cost of the order (total):

Direct labor

given

Direct materials

given

Overhead: process orders

Engineering design/support

Purchase/receive components

Schedule production

Set up machines

Machine process

DL assembly

Total cost of the order

Cost per unit (÷ 100)

Add markup of 35% = bid to customer