Hepworth Communications produces cell phones. One of the four major electronic components is produced internally. The other three components are purchased from external suppliers. The electronic components and other parts are assembled (by the Assembly Department) and then tested (by the Testing Department). Any units that fail the test are sent to the Rework Department where the unit is taken apart and the failed component is replaced. Data from the Testing Department reveal that the internally produced component (made by the Component Department) is the most frequent cause of product failure. One out of every 50 phones fails because of a faulty internally produced component. Barry Norton is the manager of the Component Department. In a recent performance evaluation, the plant manager told Barry that he needed to be more sensitive to the needs of the department’s customers. This charge puzzled Barry somewhat—after all, the component is not sold to anyone but is used in producing the plant’s cell phones. Required: 1. Who are Barry’s customers? 2. Explain the plant manager’s charge to Barry to be more sensitive to his customers. Explain also how this increased sensitivity could improve the company’s time-based competitive ability. 3. What role would cost management play in helping Barry be more sensitive to his customers?

Golding Manufacturing, a division of Farnsworth Sporting Inc., produces two different models of bows and eight models of knives. The bow-manufacturing process involves the production of two major subassemblies: the limbs and the handles. The limbs pass through four sequential processes before reaching final assembly: layup, molding, fabricating, and finishing. In the layup department, limbs are created by laminating layers of wood. In the molding department, the limbs are heat-treated, under pressure, to form strong resilient limbs. In the fabricating department, any protruding glue or other processing residue is removed. Finally, in the finishing department, the limbs are cleaned with acetone, dried, and sprayed with the final finishes. The handles pass through two processes before reaching final assembly: pattern and finishing. In the pattern department, blocks of wood are fed into a machine that is set to shape the handles. Different patterns are possible, depending on the machines setting. After coming out of the machine, the handles are cleaned and smoothed. They then pass to the finishing department, where they are sprayed with the final finishes. In final assembly, the limbs and handles are assembled into different models using purchased parts such as pulley assemblies, weight-adjustment bolts, side plates, and string. Golding, since its inception, has been using process costing to assign product costs. A predetermined overhead rate is used based on direct labor dollars (80% of direct labor dollars). Recently, Golding has hired a new controller, Karen Jenkins. After reviewing the product-costing procedures, Karen requested a meeting with the divisional manager, Aaron Suhr. The following is a transcript of their conversation: Karen: Aaron, I have some concerns about our cost accounting system. We make two different models of bows and are treating them as if they were the same product. Now I know that the only real difference between the models is the handle. The processing of the handles is the same, but the handles differ significantly in the amount and quality of wood used. Our current costing does not reflect this difference in material input. Aaron: Your predecessor is responsible. He believed that tracking the difference in material cost wasnt worth the effort. He simply didnt believe that it would make much difference in the unit cost of either model. Karen: Well, he may have been right, but I have my doubts. If there is a significant difference, it could affect our views of which model is more important to the company. The additional bookkeeping isnt very stringent. All we have to worry about is the pattern department. The other departments fit what I view as a process-costing pattern. Aaron: Why dont you look into it? If there is a significant difference, go ahead and adjust the costing system. After the meeting, Karen decided to collect cost data on the two models: the Deluxe model and the Econo model. She decided to track the costs for one week. At the end of the week, she had collected the following data from the pattern department: a. There were a total of 2,500 bows completed: 1,000 Deluxe models and 1,500 Econo models. b. There was no BWIP; however, there were 300 units in EWIP: 200 Deluxe and 100 Econo models. Both models were 80% complete with respect to conversion costs and 100% complete with respect to materials. c. The pattern department experienced the following costs: d. On an experimental basis, the requisition forms for materials were modified to identify the dollar value of the materials used by the Econo and Deluxe models: Required: 1. Compute the unit cost for the handles produced by the pattern department, assuming that process costing is totally appropriate. Round unit cost to two decimal places. 2. Compute the unit cost of each handle, using the separate cost information provided on materials. Round unit cost to two decimal places. 3. Compare the unit costs computed in Requirements 1 and 2. Is Karen justified in her belief that a pure process-costing relationship is not appropriate? Describe the costing system that you would recommend. 4. In the past, the marketing manager has requested more money for advertising the Econo line. Aaron has repeatedly refused to grant any increase in this products advertising budget because its per-unit profit (selling price minus manufacturing cost) is so low. Given the results in Requirements 1 through 3, was Aaron justified in his position?

Reducir, Inc., produces two different types of hydraulic cylinders. Reducir produces a major subassembly for the cylinders in the Cutting and Welding Department. Other parts and the subassembly are then assembled in the Assembly Department. The activities, expected costs, and drivers associated with these two manufacturing processes are given below. Note: In the assembly process, the materials-handling activity is a function of product characteristics rather than batch activity. Other overhead activities, their costs, and drivers are listed below. Other production information concerning the two hydraulic cylinders is also provided: Required: 1. Using a plantwide rate based on machine hours, calculate the total overhead cost assigned to each product and the unit overhead cost. 2. Using activity rates, calculate the total overhead cost assigned to each product and the unit overhead cost. Comment on the accuracy of the plantwide rate. 3. Calculate the global consumption ratios. 4. Calculate the consumption ratios for welding and materials handling (Assembly) and show that two drivers, welding hours and number of parts, can be used to achieve the same ABC product costs calculated in Requirement 2. Explain the value of this simplification. 5. Calculate the consumption ratios for inspection and engineering, and show that the drivers for these two activities also duplicate the ABC product costs calculated in Requirement 2.

Golding Manufacturing, a division of Farnsworth Sporting, Inc., produces two different models of bows and eight models of knives. The bow-manufacturing process involves the production of two major subassemblies: the limbs and the handle. The limbs pass through four sequential processes before reaching final assembly: lay-up, molding, fabricating, and finishing. In the Lay-Up Department, limbs are created by laminating layers of wood. In Molding, the limbs are heat treated, under pressure, to form a strong resilient limb. In the Fabricating Department, any protruding glue or other processing residue is removed. Finally, in Finishing, the limbs are cleaned with acetone, dried, and sprayed with the final finishes. The handles pass through two processes before reaching final assembly: pattern and finishing. In the Pattern Department, blocks of wood are fed into a machine that is set to shape the handles. Different patterns are possible, depending on the machines setting. After coming out of the machine, the handles are cleaned and smoothed. They then pass to the Finishing Department where they are sprayed with the final finishes. In Final Assembly, the limbs and handles are assembled into different models using purchased parts such as pulley assemblies, weight adjustment bolts, side plates, and string. Golding, since its inception, has been using process costing to assign product costs. A predetermined overhead rate is used based on direct labor dollars (80 percent of direct labor dollars). Recently, Golding has hired a new controller, Karen Jenkins. After reviewing the product costing procedures, Karen requested a meeting with the divisional manager, Aaron Suhr. The following is a transcript of their conversation: KAREN: Aaron, I have some concerns about our cost accounting system. We make two different models of bows and are treating them as if they were the same product. Now I know that the only real difference between the models is the handle. The processing of the handles is the same, but the handles differ significantly in the amount and quality of wood used. Our current costing does not reflect this difference in direct material input. AARON: Your predecessor is responsible. He believed that tracking the difference in direct material cost wasnt worth the effort. He simply didnt believe that it would make much difference in the unit cost of either model. KAREN: Well, he may have been right, but I have my doubts. If there is a significant difference, it could affect our views of which model is more important to the company. The additional bookkeeping isnt very stringent. All we have to worry about is the Pattern Department. The other departments fit what I view as a process-costing pattern. AARON: Why dont you look into it? If there is a significant difference, go ahead and adjust the costing system. After the meeting, Karen decided to collect cost data on the two models: the Deluxe model and the Econo model. She decided to track the costs for one week. At the end of the week, she had collected the following data from the Pattern Department: a. There were a total of 2,500 bows completed: 1,000 Deluxe models and 1,500 Econo models. b. There was no beginning work in process; however, there were 300 units in ending work in process: 200 Deluxe and 100 Econo models. Both models were 80 percent complete with respect to conversion costs and 100 percent complete with respect to direct materials. c. The Pattern Department experienced the following costs: d. On an experimental basis, the requisition forms for direct materials were modified to identify the dollar value of the direct materials used by the Econo and Deluxe models: Required: 1. Compute the unit cost for the handles produced by the Pattern Department, assuming that process costing is totally appropriate. 2. Compute the unit cost of each handle, using the separate cost information provided on materials. 3. Compare the unit costs computed in Requirements 1 and 2. Is Karen justified in her belief that a pure process-costing relationship is not appropriate? Describe the costing system that you would recommend. 4. In the past, the marketing manager has requested more money for advertising the Econo line. Aaron has repeatedly refused to grant any increase in this products advertising budget because its per-unit profit (selling price less manufacturing cost) is so low. Given the results in Requirements 1 through 3, was Aaron justified in his position?

Benson Pharmaceuticals uses a process-costing system to compute the unit costs of the over-the-counter cold remedies that it produces. It has three departments: mixing, encapsulating, and bottling. In mixing, the ingredients for the cold capsules are measured, sifted, and blended (with materials assumed to be uniformly added throughout the process). The mix is transferred out in gallon containers. The encapsulating department takes the powdered mix and places it in capsules (which are necessarily added at the beginning of the process). One gallon of powdered mix converts into 1,500 capsules. After the capsules are filled and polished, they are transferred to bottling, where they are placed in bottles that are then affixed with a safety seal, lid, and label. Each bottle receives 50 capsules. During March, the following results are available for the first two departments: Overhead in both departments is applied as a percentage of direct labor costs. In the mixing department, overhead is 200% of direct labor. In the encapsulating department, the overhead rate is 150% of direct labor. Required: 1. Prepare a production report for the mixing department using the weighted average method. Follow the five steps outlined in the chapter. (Note: Round to two decimal places for the unit cost.) 2. Prepare a production report for the encapsulating department using the weighted average method. Follow the five steps outlined in the chapter. (Note: Round to four decimal places for the unit cost.) 3. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Explain why the weighted average method is easier to use than FIFO. Explain when weighted average will give about the same results as FIFO.

AKL Foundry manufactures metal components for different kinds of equipment used by the aerospace, commercial aircraft, medical equipment, and electronic industries. The company uses investment casting to produce the required components. Investment casting consists of creating, in wax, a replica of the final product and pouring a hard shell around it. After removing the wax, molten metal is poured into the resulting cavity. What remains after the shell is broken is the desired metal object ready to be put to its designated use. Metal components pass through eight processes: gating, shell creating, foundry work, cutoff, grinding, finishing, welding, and strengthening. Gating creates the wax mold and clusters the wax pattern around a sprue (a hole through which the molten metal will be poured through the gates into the mold in the foundry process), which is joined and supported by gates (flow channels) to form a tree of patterns. In the shell-creating process, the wax molds are alternately dipped in a ceramic slurry and a fluidized bed of progressively coarser refractory grain until a sufficiently thick shell (or mold) completely encases the wax pattern. After drying, the mold is sent to the foundry process. Here, the wax is melted out of the mold, and the shell is fired, strengthened, and brought to the proper temperature. Molten metal is then poured into the dewaxed shell. Finally, the ceramic shell is removed, and the finished product is sent to the cutoff process, where the parts are separated from the tree by the use of a band saw. The parts are then sent to the grinding process, where the gates that allowed the molten metal to flow into the ceramic cavities are ground off using large abrasive grinders. In the finishing process, rough edges caused by the grinders are removed by small handheld pneumatic tools. Parts that are flawed at this point are sent to welding for corrective treatment. The last process uses heat to treat the parts to bring them to the desired strength. In 20X1, the two partners who owned AKL Foundry decided to split up and divide the business. In dissolving their business relationship, they were faced with the problem of dividing the business assets equitably. Since the company had two plantsone in Arizona and one in New Mexicoa suggestion was made to split the business on the basis of geographic location. One partner would assume ownership of the plant in New Mexico, and the other would assume ownership of the plant in Arizona. However, this arrangement had one major complication: the amount of WIP inventory located in the Arizona plant. The Arizona facilities had been in operation for more than a decade and were full of WIP. The New Mexico facility had been operational for only 2 years and had much smaller WIP inventories. The partner located in New Mexico argued that to disregard the unequal value of the WIP inventories would be grossly unfair. Unfortunately, during the entire business history of AKL Foundry, WIP inventories had never been assigned any value. In computing the cost of goods sold each year, the company had followed the policy of adding depreciation to the out-of-pocket costs of direct labor, direct materials, and overhead. Accruals for the company are nearly nonexistent, and there are hardly ever any ending inventories of materials. During 20X1, the Arizona plant had sales of 2,028,670. The cost of goods sold is itemized as follows: Upon request, the owners of AKL provided the following supplementary information (percentages are cumulative): Gating had 10,000 units in BWIP, 60% complete. Assume that all materials are added at the beginning of each process. During the year, 50,000 units were completed and transferred out. The ending inventory had 11,000 unfinished units, 60% complete. Required: 1. The partners of AKL want a reasonable estimate of the cost of WIP inventories. Using the gating departments inventory as an example, prepare an estimate of the cost of the EWIP. What assumptions did you make? Did you use the FIFO or weighted average method? Why? (Note: Round unit cost to two decimal places.) 2. Assume that the shell-creating process has 8,000 units in BWIP, 20% complete. During the year, 50,000 units were completed and transferred out. (Note: All 50,000 units were sold; no other units were sold.) The EWIP inventory had 8,000 units, 30% complete. Compute the value of the shell-creating departments EWIP. What additional assumptions had to be made?

Anderson Company has the following departmental manufacturing structure for one of its products: After some study, the production manager of Anderson recommended the following revised cellular manufacturing approach: Required: 1. Calculate the total time it takes to produce a batch of 20 units using Andersons traditional departmental structure. 2. Using cellular manufacturing, how much time is saved producing the same batch of 20 units? Assuming the cell operates continuously, what is the production rate? Which process controls this production rate? 3. What if the processing times of molding, welding, and assembly are all reduced to six minutes each? What is the production rate now, and how long will it take to produce a batch of 20 units?

Hales Company produces a product that requires two processes. In the first process, a subassembly is produced (subassembly A). In the second process, this subassembly and a subassembly purchased from outside the company (subassembly B) are assembled to produce the final product. For simplicity, assume that the assembly of one final unit takes the same time as the production of subassembly A. Subassembly A is placed in a container and sent to an area called the subassembly stores (SB stores) area. A production Kanban is attached to this container. A second container, also with one subassembly, is located near the assembly line (called the withdrawal store). This container has attached to it a withdrawal Kanban. Required: 1. Explain how withdrawal and production Kanban cards are used to control the work flow between the two processes. How does this approach minimize inventories? 2. Explain how vendor Kanban cards can be used to control the flow of the purchased subassembly. What implications does this have for supplier relationships? What role, if any, do continuous replenishment and EDI play in this process?

Bienestar Inc., has the following departmental structure for producing a well-known multivitamin: A consultant designed the following cellular manufacturing structure for the same product: The times above the processes represent the time required to process one unit of product. Required: 1. Calculate the time required to produce a batch of 15 bottles using a batch-processing departmental structure. 2. Calculate the time to process 15 units using cellular manufacturing. 3. How much manufacturing time will the cellular manufacturing structure save for a batch of 15 units?

Sound Tek Inc. manufactures electronic stereo equipment. The manufacturing process includes printed circuit (PC) board assembly, final assembly, testing, and shipping. In the PC board assembly operation, a number of individuals are responsible for assembling electronic components into printed circuit boards. Each operator is responsible for soldering components according to a given set of instructions. Operators work on batches of 50 printed circuit boards. Each board requires 4 minutes of board assembly time. After each batch is completed, the operator moves the assembled boards to the final assembly area. This move takes 12 minutes to complete. The final assembly for each stereo unit requires 19 minutes and is also done in batches of 50 units. A batch of 50 stereos is moved into the test building, which is across the street. The move takes 20 minutes. Before conducting the test, the test equipment must be set up for the particular stereo model. The test setup requires 30 minutes. The…

Golding Manufacturing, a division of Farnsworth Sporting, Inc., produces two different models of bows and eight models of knives. The bow-manufacturing process involves the production of two major subassemblies: the limbs and the handle. The limbs pass through four sequential processes before reaching final assembly: lay-up, molding, fabricating, and finishing. In the Lay-Up Department, limbs are created by laminating layers of wood. In Molding, the limbs are heat treated, under pressure, to form a strong resilient limb. In the Fabricating Department, any protruding glue or other processing residue is removed. Finally, in Finishing, the limbs are cleaned with acetone, dried, and sprayed with the final finishes. The handles pass through two processes before reaching final assembly: pattern and finishing. In the Pattern Department, blocks of wood are fed into a machine that is set to shape the handles. Different patterns are possible, depending on the machine's setting. After coming out…

Scribners Corporation produces fine papers in three production departments—Pulping, Drying, and Finishing. In the Pulping Department, raw materials such as wood fiber and rag cotton are mechanically and chemically treated to separate their fibers. The result is a thick slurry of fibers. In the Drying Department, the wet fibers transferred from the Pulping Department are laid down on porous webs, pressed to remove excess liquid, and dried in ovens. In the Finishing Department, thedried paper is coated, cut, and spooled onto reels. The company uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. Data for March for the Drying Department follow: No materials are added in the Drying Department. Pulping cost represents the costs of the wet fibers transferred in from the Pulping Department. Wet fiber is processed in the Drying Department in batches; each unit in the above table is a batch and one batch of wet fibers produces a setamount of dried paper that is passed on to the…

Scribners Corporation produces fine papers in three production departments—Pulping, Drying, and Finishing. In the Pulping Department, raw materials such as wood fiber and rag cotton are mechanically and chemically treated to separate their fibers. The result is a thick slurry of fibers. In the Drying Department, the wet fibers transferred from the Pulping Department are laid down on porous webs, pressed to remove excess liquid, and dried in ovens. In the Finishing Department, the dried paper is coated, cut, and spooled onto reels. The company uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. Data for March for the Drying Department follow: Percent Completed Units Pulping Conversion Work in process inventory, March 1 3,800 100 % 80 % Work in process inventory, March 31 5,000 100 % 75 % Pulping cost in work in process inventory, March 1 $ 1,349 Conversion cost in work in process inventory, March 1 $ 684 Units transferred to the…

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