Answered step by step
Verified Expert Solution
Link Copied!

Question

1 Approved Answer

Mercury, Inc., produces cell phones at its plant in Texas. In recent years, the companys market share has been eroded by stiff competition from overseas.

Mercury, Inc., produces cell phones at its plant in Texas. In recent years, the companys market share has been eroded by stiff competition from overseas. Price and product quality are the two key areas in which companies compete in this market. A year ago, the companys cell phones had been ranked low in product quality in a consumer survey. Shocked by this result, Jorge Gomez, Mercurys president, initiated a crash effort to improve product quality. Gomez set up a task force to implement a formal quality improvement program. Included on this task force were representatives from the Engineering, Marketing, Customer Service, Production, and Accounting departments. The broad representation was needed because Gomez believed that this was a companywide program and that all employees should share the responsibility for its success. After the first meeting of the task force, Holly Elsoe, manager of the Marketing Department, asked John Tran, production manager, what he thought of the proposed program. Tran replied, I have reservations. Quality is too abstract to be attaching costs to it and then to be holding you and me responsible for cost improvements. I like to work with goals that I can see and count! Im nervous about having my annual bonus based on a decrease in quality costs; there are too many variables that we have no control over. Mercurys quality improvement program has now been in operation for one year. The companys most recent quality cost report is shown below.

Mercury, Inc.
Quality Cost Report
(in thousands)
Last Year This Year
Prevention costs:
Machine maintenance $ 210 $ 140
Training suppliers 5 15
Quality circles 25 80
Total prevention costs 240 235
Appraisal costs:
Incoming inspection 30 22
Final testing 155 92
Total appraisal costs 185 114
Internal failure costs:
Rework 110 62
Scrap 62 50
Total internal failure costs 172 112
External failure costs:
Warranty repairs 62 23
Customer returns 252 85
Total external failure costs 314 108
Total quality cost $ 911 $ 569
Total production cost $ 4,110 $ 4,510

As they were reviewing the report, Elsoe asked Tran what he now thought of the quality improvement program. Tran replied. Im relieved that the new quality improvement program hasnt hurt our bonuses, but the program has increased the workload in the Production Department. It is true that customer returns are way down, but the cell phones that were returned by customers to retail outlets were rarely sent back to us for rework.

Required:
1.

Expand the companys quality cost report by showing the costs in both years as percentages of both total production cost and total quality cost. Round your percentage answers to 1 decimal place (i.e 0.1234 should be entered as 12.3).

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

Step: 1

blur-text-image

Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions

See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success

Step: 2

blur-text-image

Step: 3

blur-text-image

Ace Your Homework with AI

Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance

Get Started

Recommended Textbook for

Financial Accounting Theory

Authors: Craig Deegan, H. Bierman

4th Edition

0071013148, 978-0071013147

More Books

Students also viewed these Accounting questions

Question

Did you include SEC required financial data?

Answered: 1 week ago