Question
Morelli Electric Motor Corporation manufactures electric motors for commercial use. The company produces three models, designated as standard, deluxe, and heavy-duty. The company uses a
Morelli Electric Motor Corporation manufactures electric motors for commercial use. The company produces three models, designated as standard, deluxe, and heavy-duty. The company uses a job-order cost-accounting system with manufacturing overhead applied on the basis of direct-labor hours. The system has been in place with little change for 25 years. Product costs and annual sales data are as follows:
Standard Model | Deluxe Model | Heavy-Duty Model | |||||||||||||
Annual sales (units) | 20,000 | 1,400 | 11,500 | ||||||||||||
Product costs: | |||||||||||||||
Raw material | $ | 16 | $ | 31 | $ | 44 | |||||||||
Direct labor | 8 | (0.5 hr. at $16) | 16 | (1 hr. at $16) | 16 | (1 hr. at $16) | |||||||||
Manufacturing overhead* | 70 | 140 | 140 | ||||||||||||
Total product cost | $ | 94 | $ | 187 | $ | 200 | |||||||||
*The calculation of the predetermined overhead rate is as follows:
Manufacturing-overhead budget: | |||
Depreciation, machinery | $ | 1,300,000 | |
Maintenance, machinery | 135,000 | ||
Depreciation, taxes, and insurance for factory | 330,000 | ||
Engineering | 380,000 | ||
Purchasing, receiving and shipping | 280,000 | ||
Inspection and repair of defects | 390,000 | ||
Material handling | 430,000 | ||
Miscellaneous manufacturing overhead costs | 115,000 | ||
Total | $ | 3,360,000 | |
Direct-labor budget: | |||||
Standard model: | 11,000 | hours | |||
Deluxe model: | 2,000 | hours | |||
Heavy-duty model: | 11,000 | hours | |||
Total | 24,000 | hours | |||
Predetermined overhead rate: | Budgeted overhead | = | $3,360,000 | = $140 per hour |
Budgeted direct-labor hours | 24,000 hours |
For the past 10 years, the companys pricing formula has been to set each products target price at 125 percent of its full product cost. Recently, however, the standard-model motor has come under increasing price pressure from offshore competitors. The result was that the price on the standard model has been lowered to $125. The company president recently asked the controller, Why cant we compete with these other companies? Theyre selling motors just like our standard model for 120 dollars. Thats only a buck more than our production cost. Are we really that inefficient? What gives? The controller responded by saying, I think this is due to an outmoded product-costing system. As you may remember, I raised a red flag about our system when I came on board last year. But the decision was to keep our current system in place. In my judgment, our product-costing system is distorting our product costs. Let me run a few numbers to demonstrate what I mean. Getting the presidents go-ahead, the controller compiled the basic data needed to implement an activity-based costing system. These data are displayed in the following table. The percentages are the proportion of each cost driver consumed by each product line.
Product Lines | ||||||||||||
Activity Cost Pool | Cost Driver | Standard Model | Deluxe Model | Heavy-Duty Model | ||||||||
I. | Depreciation, machinery | |||||||||||
Maintenance, machinery | Machine time | 40 | % | 14 | % | 46 | % | |||||
II. | Engineering | |||||||||||
Inspection and repair of defects | Engineering hours | 46 | % | 8 | % | 46 | % | |||||
III. | Purchasing, receiving, and shipping | |||||||||||
Material handling | Number of material orders | 46 | % | 10 | % | 44 | % | |||||
IV. | Depreciation, taxes, and insurance for factory Miscellaneous manufacturing overhead | Factory space usage | 42 | % | 15 | % | 43 | % | ||||
Required: 1. Compute the target prices for the three models, based on the traditional, volume-based product-costing system. 2. Compute new product costs for the three products, based on the new data collected by the controller. 3. Calculate a new target price for the three products, based on the activity-based costing system.
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