Dudley Beverages manufactures its own soda pop bottles. The bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lightweight yet strong plastic. Dudley uses as much PET recycled resin pellets in its bottles as it can, both because using recycled PET helps Dudley to meet its sustainability goals and because recycled PET is less expensive than virgin PET. Dudley is continuing to search for ways to reduce its costs and its impact on the environment. PET plastic is melted and blown over soda bottle moulds to produce the bottles. One idea Dudley's engineers have suggested is to retrofit the soda bottle moulds and change the plastic formulation slightly so that 20% less PET plastic is used for each bottle. The average kilograms of PET per soda bottle before any redesign is 0.005 kg. The cost of retrofitting the soda bottle moulds will result in a one-time charge of $18,000, while the plastic reformulation will cause the average cost per kilogram of PET plastic to change from $2.00 to $2.20. Dudley's management is analyzing whether the change to the bottle moulds to reduce PET plastic usage should be made. Management expects the following number of soda bottles to be used in the upcoming year: (Click the icon view additional information.) Requirements Requirement 1. Using the original data (before any redesign of soda bottles), prepare a direct materials budget to calculate the cost of PET purchases in each quarter for the upcoming year and for the year in total. Start by preparing the direct materials budget through the total quantity needed, and then complete the budget. (Round all answers to the nearest number. For the quantity of direct materials needed per unit, enter round your answer to three decimal places X.XXX. Use parentheses or a minus sign for beginning inventory balances. Round cost per kilogram to the nearest cent.) Dudley Beverages Direct Materials Budget For Quarters 1 through 4 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Year Units to be produced * Quantity of direct materials needed per unit Quantity of PET needed for production Plus: Desired ending inventory Total quantity needed Less: Beginning Inventory of direct materials Quantity to purchase * Cost per kilogram Total cost of direct material purchases Data table Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Number of soda pop bottles to be produced 2,500,000 2,900,000 3,200,000 2,300,000 For the upcoming year, management expects the beginning inventory of PET to be 1,250 kilograms, while ending inventory (before any redesign) is expected to be 1,700 kilograms. During the first three quarters of the year, management wants to keep the ending inventory of PET at the end of each quarter equal to 10% of the following quarter's PET needs. x Requirements 1. Using the original data (before any redesign of soda bottles), prepare a direct materials budget to calculate the cost of PET purchases in each quarter for the upcoming year and for the year in total. 2. Assume that the company retrofits the soda bottle moulds and changes the plastic formulation slightly so that less PET plastic is used in each bottle. Now prepare a direct materials budget to calculate the cost of PET purchases in each quarter for the upcoming year and for the year in total for this possible scenario. 3. Compare the cost of PET plastic for Requirement 1 (original data) and for Requirement 2 (making change to using less PET.) What is the direct material cost savings from making the change to using less PET? Compare the total of those savings to the cost of retrofitting the soda bottle moulds. Should the company make the change? Explain your rationale
