Question

Troy Engines, Ltd., manufactures a variety of engines for use in heavy equipment. The company has always produced all of the necessary parts for its engines, including all of the carburetors. An outside supplier has offered to sell one type of carburetor to Troy Engines, Ltd., for a cost of $34 per unit. To evaluate this offer, Troy Engines, Ltd., has gathered the following information relating to its own cost of producing the carburetor internally: Direct materials Direct labor Variable manufacturing overhead Fixed manufacturing overhead, traceable Fixed manufacturing overhead, allocated 19,000 Units Per per Unit Year $ 16 $ 304,000 10 190,000 2 38,000 9* 171,000 12 228,000 $ 49 $ 931,000 Total cost *One-third supervisory salaries; two-thirds depreciation of special equipment (no resale value). Required: 1. Assuming the company has no alternative use for the facilities that are now being used to produce the carburetors, what would be the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying 19,000 carburetors from the outside supplier? 2. Should the outside supplier's offer be accepted? 3. Suppose that if the carburetors were purchased, Troy Engines, Ltd., could use the freed capacity to launch a new product. The segment margin of the new product would be $190,000 per year. Given this new assumption, what would be the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying 19,000 carburetors from the outside supplier? 4. Given the new assumption in requirement 3, should the outside supplier's offer be accepted?

Answer 1

The relevant costs per unit to make are the variable costs and the avoidable fixed costs.

Relevant costs per unit = Direct materials + Direct labor + Variable manufacturing overhead + Supervisor salary

= $16 + $10 + 2 + (9*1/3)

= $31

1. Financial disadvantage = ($34 - $31) * 19,000 = $57,000

2. No

3. Segment margin per unit = $190,000 / 19,000 = $10

Relevant costs per unit = Direct materials + Direct labor + Variable manufacturing overhead + Supervisor salary + Segment margin per unit

= $16 + $10 + 2 + (9*1/3) + $10

= $41

Financial advantage = ($41 - $34) * 19,000 = $133,000

4. Yes