Lean Manufacturing: Lean manufacturing aims at reducing the cost and minimizing the waste involved in the production, in order to optimize the value for the product or the service.
Situation:
CEO of Company P after returning from a management seminar on lean philosophy intends to follow it. So the CEO issues a circular informing the employees about lean manufacturing and asking the employees to eliminate excess inventory. Also the employees are asked to reduce the inventory till they reach Just in time production.
To Respond: To the given situation of inventory reduction.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 27 Solutions
Bundle: Financial & Managerial Accounting, Loose-leaf Version, 13th + CengageNOWv2, 1 term (6 months) Printed Access Card Corporate Financial ... Access Card for Managerial Accounting, 13th
- The chief executive officer (CEO) of Ozark Industries has just returned from a management seminar describing the benefits of the just-in-time philosophy. The CEO issued the following statement after returning from the conference: This company will become a just-in-time manufacturing company. Presently, we have too much inventory. To become just-in-time, we need to eliminate the excess inventory. Therefore, I want all employees to begin reducing inventories until we are just-in-time. Thank you for your cooperation. All of the following are accurate responses to counter the CEO's misunderstandings about the benefits of the just-in-time philosophy except for: To achieve just-in-time, the company must remove the reasons for excess inventory rather than just reduce the inventory. OIf the employees follow the CEO's orders without making the process improvements, the plant will likely suffer reduced productivity. O The CEO has not provided the training or action plan for moving to…arrow_forwardThe following are some quotes provided by a number of managers at Hawkeye Machining Company regarding the company’s planned move toward a lean manufacturing system: Director of Sales: I’m afraid we’ll miss some sales if we don’t keep a large stock of items on hand just in case demand increases. It only makes sense to me to keep large inventories in order to ensure product availability for our customers.Director of Purchasing: I’m very concerned about moving to a lean system for materials. What would happen if one of our suppliers were unable to make a shipment? A supplier could fall behind in production or have a quality problem. Without some safety stock in our materials, our whole plant would shut down.Director of Manufacturing: If we go to lean manufacturing, I think our factory output will drop. We need in-process inventory in order to “smooth out” the inevitable problems that occur during manufacturing. For example, if a machine that is used to process a product breaks down, it…arrow_forwardRH Bhd is just starting up. The management team has decided from the beginning that decentralization was the preferred organizational style and has made this clear in all interviews and discussions with potential employees. Mr. Pang, the CEO, is unsure about the best way to evaluate his division managers. He has heard the terms return on investment, residual income, economic value added, and flexible budgets but wants to know the pros and cons of each. Electronic Telephone Systems (ETS), a division of RH Bhd buys and installs modular office components. For the most recent year, the division had the following performance targets: Asset turnover Profit margin Target rate of return on investments for RI Cost of capital Income tax rate 2.5 6% 13% 10% 40% Actual information concerning the company's performance for last year follows: Total assets at beginning of year Total assets at end of year Total invested capital (annual average) Sales RM3,600,000 RM5,300,000 RM8,000,000 RM9,000,000…arrow_forward
- Assume that a company is pursuing a strategy based on product leadership. Which if-then hypothesis statement is most aligned with this strategy rather than an operational excellence or customer intimacy strategy? Multiple Choice If the average tenure per employee increases, then the number of collaborative customer-driven product innovations should increase. If the number of new products designed increases, then the sales from products less than three years old should increase. If the number of process improvement suggestions per employee increases, then the non-value-added activity costs should decrease. If the employee turnover percentage decreases, then the manufacturing cycle efficiency (MCE) should increase.arrow_forwardJolene Askew, manager of Feagan Company, has committed her company to a strategically sound cost reduction program. Emphasizing life-cycle cost management is a major part of this effort. Jolene is convinced that production costs can be reduced by paying more attention to the relationships between design and manufacturing. Design engineers need to know what causes manufacturing costs. She instructed her controller to develop a manufacturing cost formula for a newly proposed product. Marketing had already projected sales of 25,000 units for the new product. (The life cycle was estimated to be 18 months. The company expected to have 50 percent of the market and priced its product to achieve this goal.) The projected selling price was 20 per unit. The following cost formula was developed: Y=200,000+10X1 where X1=Machinehours(Theproductisexpectedtouseonemachinehourforeveryunitproduced.) Upon seeing the cost formula, Jolene quickly calculated the projected gross profit to be 50,000. This produced a gross profit of 2 per unit, well below the targeted gross profit of 4 per unit. Jolene then sent a memo to the Engineering Department, instructing them to search for a new design that would lower the costs of production by at least 50,000 so that the target profit could be met. Within two days, the Engineering Department proposed a new design that would reduce unit-variable cost from 10 per machine hour to 8 per machine hour (Design Z). The chief engineer, upon reviewing the design, questioned the validity of the controllers cost formula. He suggested a more careful assessment of the proposed designs effect on activities other than machining. Based on this suggestion, the following revised cost formula was developed. This cost formula reflected the cost relationships of the most recent design (Design Z). Y=140,000+8X1+5,000X2+2,000X3 where X1=MachinehoursX2=NumberofbatchesX3=Numberofengineeringchangeorders Based on scheduling and inventory considerations, the product would be produced in batches of 1,000; thus, 25 batches would be needed over the products life cycle. Furthermore, based on past experience, the product would likely generate about 20 engineering change orders. This new insight into the linkage of the product with its underlying activities led to a different design (Design W). This second design also lowered the unit-level cost by 2 per unit but decreased the number of design support requirements from 20 orders to 10 orders. Attention was also given to the setup activity, and the design engineer assigned to the product created a design that reduced setup time and lowered variable setup costs from 5,000 to 3,000 per setup. Furthermore, Design W also creates excess activity capacity for the setup activity, and resource spending for setup activity capacity can be decreased by 40,000, reducing the fixed cost component in the equation by this amount. Design W was recommended and accepted. As prototypes of the design were tested, an additional benefit emerged. Based on test results, the post-purchase costs dropped from an estimated 0.70 per unit sold to 0.40 per unit sold. Using this information, the Marketing Department revised the projected market share upward from 50 percent to 60 percent (with no price decrease). Required: 1. Calculate the expected gross profit per unit for Design Z using the controllers original cost formula. According to this outcome, does Design Z reach the targeted unit profit? Repeat, using the engineers revised cost formula. Explain why Design Z failed to meet the targeted profit. What does this say about the use of unit-based costing for life-cycle cost management? 2. Calculate the expected profit per unit using Design W. Comment on the value of activity information for life-cycle cost management. 3. The benefit of the post-purchase cost reduction of Design W was discovered in testing. What direct benefit did it create for Feagan Company (in dollars)? Reducing post-purchase costs was not a specific design objective. Should it have been? Are there any other design objectives that should have been considered?arrow_forwardAustin BBQ has seen rapid growth in the last five years. It started with one store and is now located in 15 different locations across five cities. The CEO has noticed that costs are increasing and so is beginning to standardize practices across the various locations. Which of the following perspectives is most consistent with the CEO's efforts? Group of answer choices 1.Rational System 2.Natural System 3.Open System 4.Operational Systemarrow_forward
- You recently joined ABC Limited, a small company holding a leading position in an embryonic market. You notice that your boss is very optimistic about the company and argues that ABC Limited's future is ensured. Your boss validates his argument by providing the following reasons. • ABC Limited has sixty percent share of the market due to the lowest cost structure, and • The company has the most reliable and highest-valued products. Required: You are required to write a memo to your boss outlining why the assumptions posed might be incorrect.arrow_forwardFrank Corporation evaluates its managers based on return on investment (ROI). Hazel B and Sarah D, managers of the electronics and housewares departments respectively, have recently suffered from declining profits in their departments. Over lunch, they discuss the problem, and how they could improve performance. Most of the discussion centers around ways to increase sales. Near the end of the lunch period, however, Sarah remarks that there are two components to consider, and that they have considered only one. She wonders whether there is some way to reduce investment, and by decreasing the denominator of the ROI fraction, to improve the final result. Back at work, Hazel continues to mull over Sarah's remarks. She decides to pursue the matter further, and before the end of the quarter she has sold quite a bit of older equipment and replaced it with equipment obtained with a short-term lease. Her performance, measured by ROI, is markedly improved, although sales continue to be…arrow_forwardJIT production, relevant benets, relevant costs, ethics. Galveston Pump Corporation is considering implementing a JIT production system. The new system would reduce current average inventory levels of $2,000,000 by 75%, but it would require a much greater dependency on the company’s core suppliers for on-time deliveries and high-quality inputs. The company’s operations manager, Frank Griswold, is opposed to the idea of a new JIT system because he is concerned that the new system (a) will be too costly to manage; (b) will result in too many stockouts; and (c) will lead to the layoff of his employees, several of whom are currently managing inventory. He believes that these layoffs will affect the morale of his entire production department. The management accountant, Bonnie Barrett, is in favor of the new system because of its likely cost savings. Frank wants Bonnie to rework the numbers because he is concerned that top management will give more weight to nancial factors and not give due…arrow_forward
- Howard Rockness was worried. His company, Rockness Bottling, showed declining profits over the past several years despite an increase in revenues. With profits declining and revenues increasing, Rockness knew there must be a problem with costs. Rockness sent an e-mail to his executive team under the subject heading, “How do we get Rockness Bottling back on track?” Meeting in Rockness’s spacious office, the team began brainstorming solutions to the declining profits problem. Some members of the team wanted to add products. (These were marketing people.) Some wanted to fire the least efficient workers. (These were finance people.) Some wanted to empower the workers. (These people worked in the human resources department.) And some people wanted to install a new computer system. (It should be obvious who these people were.) Rockness listened patiently. When all participants had made their cases, Rockness said, “We made money when we were a smaller, simpler company. We have grown,…arrow_forwardHoward Rockness was worried. His company, Rockness Bottling, showed declining profits over the past several years despite an increase in revenues. With profits declining and revenues increasing, Rockness knew there must be a problem with costs. Rockness sent an e-mail to his executive team under the subject heading, “How do we get Rockness Bottling back on track?” Meeting in Rockness’s spacious office, the team began brainstorming solutions to the declining profits problem. Some members of the team wanted to add products. (These were marketing people.) Some wanted to fire the least efficient workers. (These were finance people.) Some wanted to empower the workers. (These people worked in the human resources department.) And some people wanted to install a new computer system. (It should be obvious who these people were.) Rockness listened patiently. When all participants had made their cases, Rockness said, “We made money when we were a smaller, simpler company. We have grown, added…arrow_forwardManagement at Work While reading the newspaper one day, you come across an article discussing the diversity strategy presented by the cereal and food producer Kellogg's. The main theme of the story is that the company strives to both produce the best product for its customers and create an environment that values and utilizes the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking of its employees and customers. Kellogg's is likely to experience turnover when compared with other companies that do not promote diversity. Upon discussing this article with a group of people at lunch, you find that you actually know someone who owns Kellogg's stock. Which of the following is he likely to report about his shares of stock? Since the implementation of the diversity strategy, my shares have increased in value. This strategy has only caused people to think the company is failing, decreasing the value of my shares. This strategy is good from a marketing standpoint but has not helped to…arrow_forward
- Managerial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337912020Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. TaylerPublisher:South-Western College PubCornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage Learning