Just-in-time principles
Warm Space Inc. manufactures electric space heaters. While the CEO, Gwen Willis, is visiting the production facility, the following conversation takes place with the plant manager, Tyra Chastain:
Gwen: As I walk around the facility, I can't help noticing all the materials inventories. What's going on?
Tyra: I have found our suppliers to be very unreliable in meeting their delivery commitments. Thus, I keep a lot of materials on hand so as to not risk running out and shutting down
production.
Gwen: Not only do I see a lot of materials inventory, but there also seems to be a lot of finished goods inventory' on hand. Why is this?
Tyra: As you know, I am evaluated on maintaining a low cost per unit. The one way that I am able to reduce my unit costs is by producing as many space heaters as possible. This allows me to spread my fixed costs over a larger base. When orders are down, the excess production builds up as inventory, as we are seeing now. But don't worry—I'm really keeping our unit costs down this way. Gwen: I'm not so sure. It seems that this inventory must cost us something.
Tyra: Not really. I'll eventually use the materials, and we'll eventually sell the finished goods. By keeping the plant busy, I'm using our plant assets wisely. This is reflected in the low unit costs that I'm able to maintain.
If you were Gwen Willis, how would you respond to Tyra Chastain? What recommendations would you provide to Tyra Chastain?
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Survey of Accounting (Accounting I)
- Nizam Company produces speaker cabinets. Recently, Nizam switched from a traditional departmental assembly line system to a manufacturing cell in order to produce the cabinets. Suppose that the cabinet manufacturing cell is the cost object. Assume that all or a portion of the following costs must be assigned to the cell: a. Depreciation on electric saws, sanders, and drills used to produce the cabinets b. Power to heat and cool the plant in which the cell is located c. Salary of cell supervisor d. Wood used to produce the cabinet housings e. Maintenance for the cells equipment (provided by the maintenance department) f. Labor used to cut the wood and to assemble the cabinets g. Replacement sanding belts h. Cost of janitorial services for the plant i. Ordering costs for materials used in production j. The salary of the industrial engineer (she spends about 20 percent of her time on work for the cell) k. Cost of maintaining plant and grounds l. Cost of plants personnel office m. Depreciation on the plant n. Plant receptionists salary and benefits Required: Identify which cost assignment method would likely be used to assign the costs of each of the preceding activities to the cabinet manufacturing cell: direct tracing, driver tracing, or allocation. When driver tracing is selected, identify a potential activity driver that could be used for the tracing.arrow_forwardStan is opening a coffee shop next to Big State University. He knows that controlling his costs will be important to the success of the shop. He will not be able to work all the hours the shop is open, so the employees will need some guidelines to perform their jobs correctly. After talking to an accounting professor, he decides he needs a standard cost system for his shop. Describe the process Stan should follow in setting his standards for materials and labor.arrow_forwardCommunications Jamarcus Bradshaw, plant manager of Georgia Paper Companys papermaking mill, was looking over the cost of production reports for July and August for the Papermaking Department. The reports revealed the following: Jamarcus was concerned about the increased cost per ton from the output of the department. As a result, he asked the plant controller to perform a study to help explain these results. The controller, Leann Brunswick, began the analysis by performing some interviews of key plant personnel in order to understand what the problem might be. Excerpts from an interview with Len Tyson, a paper machine operator, follow: Len: We have two papermaking machines in the department. I have no data, but I think paper machine No. 1 is applying too much pulp and, thus, is wasting both conversion and materials resources. We haven't had repairs on paper machine No. 1 in a while. Maybe this is the problem. Leann: How does too much pulp result in wasted resources? Len: Well, you see, if too much pulp is applied, then we will waste pulp material. The customer will not pay for the extra product; we just use more material to make the product. Also, when there is too much pulp, the machine must be slowed down in order to complete the drying process. This results in additional conversion costs. Leann: Do you have any other suspicions? Len: Well, as you know, we have two productsgreen paper and yellow paper. They are identical except for the color. The color is added to the papermaking process in the paper machine. I think that during August these two color papers have been behaving very differently. I don't have any data, but it just seems as though the amount of waste associated with the green paper has increased. Leann: Why is this? Len: I understand that there has been a change in specifications for the green paper, starting near the beginning of August. This change could be causing the machines to run poorly when making green paper. If this is the case, the cost per ton would increase for green paper. Leann also asked for a database printout providing greater detail on Augusts operating results. September 9 Requested by: Leann Brunswick Papermaking DepartmentAugust detail Prior to preparing a report, Leann resigned from Georgia Paper Company to start her own business. You have been asked to take the data that Leann collected, and write a memo to Jamarcus Bradshaw with a recommendation to management. Your memo should include analysis of the August data to determine whether the paper machine or the paper color explains the increase in the unit cost from July. Include any supporting schedules that are appropriate. Round any calculations to the nearest cent.arrow_forward
- John Thomas, vice president of Mallett Company (a producer of a variety of plastic products), has been supervising the implementation of an ABC management system. John wants to improve process efficiency by improving the activities that define the processes. To illustrate the potential of the new system to the president, John has decided to focus on two processes: production and customer service. Within each process, one activity will be selected for improvement: materials usage for production and sustaining engineering for customer service (sustaining engineers are responsible for redesigning products based on customer needs and feedback). Value-added standards are identified for each activity. For materials usage, the value-added standard calls for six pounds per unit of output (the products differ in shape and function, but their weight is uniform). The value-added standard is based on the elimination of all waste due to defective molds. The standard price of materials is 5 per pound. For sustaining engineering, the standard is 58% of current practical activity capacity. This standard is based on the fact that about 42% of the complaints have to do with design features that could have been avoided or anticipated by the company. Current practical capacity (at the end of 20X1) is defined by the following requirements: 6,000 engineering hours for each product group that has been on the market or in development for 5 years or less and 2,400 hours per product group of more than 5 years. Four product groups have less than 5 years experience, and 10 product groups have more. Each of the 24 engineers is paid a salary of 60,000. Each engineer can provide 2,000 hours of service per year. No other significant costs are incurred for the engineering activity. Actual materials usage for 20X1 was 25% above the level called for by the value-added standard; engineering usage was 46,000 hours. A total of 80,000 units of output were produced. John and the operational managers have selected some improvement measures that promise to reduce nonvalue-added activity usage by 40% in 20X2. Selected actual results achieved for 20X2 are as follows: The actual prices paid for materials and engineering hours are identical to the standard or budgeted prices. Required: 1. For 20X1, calculate the nonvalue-added usage and costs for materials usage and sustaining engineering. 2. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION Using the budgeted improvements, calculate the expected activity usage levels for 20X2. Now, compute the 20X2 usage variances (the difference between the expected and actual values), expressed in both physical and financial measures, for materials and engineering. Comment on the companys ability to achieve its targeted reductions. In particular, discuss what measures the company must take to capture any realized reductions in resource usage.arrow_forwardSouthward Company has implemented a JIT flexible manufacturing system. John Richins, controller of the company, has decided to reduce the accounting requirements given the expectation of lower inventories. For one thing, he has decided to treat direct labor cost as a part of overhead and to discontinue the detailed direct labor accounting of the past. The company has created two manufacturing cells, each capable of producing a family of products: the radiator cell and the water pump cell. The output of both cells is sold to a sister division and to customers who use the radiators and water pumps for repair activity. Product-level overhead costs outside the cells are assigned to each cell using appropriate drivers. Facility-level costs are allocated to each cell on the basis of square footage. The budgeted direct labor and overhead costs are as follows: The predetermined conversion cost rate is based on available production hours in each cell. The radiator cell has 45,000 hours available for production, and the water pump cell has 27,000 hours. Conversion costs are applied to the units produced by multiplying the conversion rate by the actual time required to produce the units. The radiator cell produced 81,000 units, taking 0.5 hour to produce one unit of product (on average). The water pump cell produced 90,000 units, taking 0.25 hour to produce one unit of product (on average). Other actual results for the year are as follows: All units produced were sold. Any conversion cost variance is closed to Cost of Goods Sold. Required: 1. Calculate the predetermined conversion cost rates for each cell. 2. Prepare journal entries using backflush accounting. Assume two trigger points, with completion of goods as the second trigger point. 3. Repeat Requirement 2, assuming that the second trigger point is the sale of the goods. 4. Explain why there is no need to have a work-in-process inventory account. 5. Two variants of backflush costing were presented in which each used two trigger points, with the second trigger point differing. Suppose that the only trigger point for recognizing manufacturing costs occurs when the goods are sold. How would the entries be listed here? When would this backflush variant be considered appropriate?arrow_forwardAssume you are the leather department manager at the Famous Football Factory. The leather department is a cost center and you are reviewing the scrap costs for the previous year, shown here: A. Using Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet application, create a line chart with markers showing the leather scrap expense. Describe your observations. B. Knowing that leather is susceptible to indoor temperature, you decide to talk with the maintenance manager and obtain the following information: Using Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet application, create individual line charts with markers showing the indoor temperature, spare parts inventory, and breakdowns. Describe your observations and actions you might consider.arrow_forward
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