Question

Problem 11-28 Make or Buy Decisions [LO11-3]

“In my opinion, we ought to stop making our own drums and accept that outside supplier’s offer,” said Wim Niewindt, managing director of Antilles Refining, N.V., of Aruba. “At a price of $19 per drum, we would be paying $5.35 less than it costs us to manufacture the drums in our own plant. Since we use 60,000 drums a year, that would be an annual cost savings of $321,000.” Antilles Refining’s current cost to manufacture one drum is given below (based on 60,000 drums per year):

Direct materials	$	10.45
Direct labor		7.00
Variable overhead		1.50
Fixed overhead ($3.00 general company overhead, $1.70 depreciation, and $0.70 supervision)		5.40
Total cost per drum	$	24.35

A decision about whether to make or buy the drums is especially important at this time because the equipment being used to make the drums is completely worn out and must be replaced. The choices facing the company are:

Alternative 1: Rent new equipment and continue to make the drums. The equipment would be rented for $168,000 per year.

Alternative 2: Purchase the drums from an outside supplier at $19 per drum.

The new equipment would be more efficient than the equipment that Antilles Refining has been using and, according to the manufacturer, would reduce direct labor and variable overhead costs by 20%. The old equipment has no resale value. Supervision cost ($42,000 per year) and direct materials cost per drum would not be affected by the new equipment. The new equipment’s capacity would be 140,000 drums per year.

The company’s total general company overhead would be unaffected by this decision.

Required:

1. Assuming that 60,000 drums are needed each year, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying the drums from an outside supplier?

2. Assuming that 120,000 drums are needed each year, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying the drums from an outside supplier?

3. Assuming that 140,000 drums are needed each year, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying the drums from an outside supplier?

(For all requirements, enter any "disadvantages" as a negative value. Do not round intermediate calculations.)

Answer 1

calculation 60000*10.45 60000*7*(1-0.2) 60000*1.5*(1-0.2) 1) direct material direct labor variable overhead Supervision cost rent total relevant cost of making Less: cost to purchase Financial Advantage/(disadvantage) 627,000 336,000 72,000 42,000 168,000 1,245,000 1,140,000 105,000 60000*19 2) calculation 120000*10.45 120000*7*(1-0.2) 120000*1.5*(1-0.2) direct material direct labor variable overhead Supervision cost rent total relevant cost of making Less: cost to purchase Financial Advantage/disadvantage) $ 1,254,000 672,000 144,000 42,000 168,000 2,280,000 2,280,000 120000* 19 calculation 140000* 10.45 140000*7* (1-0.2) 140000*1.5*(1-0.2) 3) direct material direct labor variable overhead Supervision cost rent total relevant cost of making Less: cost to purchase Financial Advantage/(disadvantage) 1,463,000 784,000 168,000 42,000 168,000 2,625,000 2,660,000 35,000 14000019