Question 2 Bramble's Nut House is a processor and distributor of a variety of different nuts. The company buys nuts from around the world and roasts, seasons, and packages them for resale. Bramble's Nut House currently offers 16 different types of nuts in one-pound bags through catalogs and gourmet shops. The company's major cost is that of the raw nuts; however, the predominantly automated roasting and packing processes consume a substantial amount of manufacturing overhead cost. The company uses relatively little direct labor Some of Bramble's nuts are very popular and sell in large volumes, but a few of the newer types sell in very low sales volumes. Bramble's prices its nuts at cost (including overhead) plus a markup of 40%. If the resulting prices of certain nuts are significantly higher than the market price, adjustments are made. Although the company competes primarily on the quality of its products, customers are price conscious. Data for the annual budget include manufacturing overhead of 6,234,850, allocated on the basis of each product's direct labor cost. The annual budgeted direct labor cost totals $1,219,000. Based on the sales budget and raw materials standards, purchases and use of raw materials are expected to total $9,158,000 for the year The unit costs of a one-pound bag of two of the company's products follows. Cashews Chestnuts Raw materials Direct labor $4.40 0.37 $3.05 Bramble's controller believes that the traditional costing system may be providing misleading cost information, so she has developed the following analysis of the annual budgeted manufacturing costs. Budgeted Activity 11,490 1,820 Budgeted Activity Cost Driver Purchase orders Number of setups Number of batches Roasting hours Seasoning hours Packaging hours Cost Purchasing Material handling Quality control Roasting Seasoning Packaging $1,171,980 1,501,500 303,850 2,006,760 696,990 95,560 33,190 26,370 Total manufacturing overhead cost $6,234,850 Data regarding the annual production of cashews and chestnuts follow. All raw materials purchased during the period are processed and all nuts produced are sold within the period. Cashews Chestnuts Expected sales Batch size Setups Purchase order size Roasting time Seasoning time Packaging time 120,100 lbs. 10,000 lbs. 2 per batch 2,500 Ibs. 1.10 hour/100 lbs. 0.7 hour/100 lbs. 0.1 hour/100 lbs. 2,000 lbs. 1,000 lbs. 2 per batch 50 lbs. 1.1 hour/100 lbs. 0.7 hour/100 Ibs. 0.1 hour/100 lbs
