Brik, located in San Antonio, Texas, produces two lines of electric toothbrushes: deluxe and standard. Because Brik can sell all the toothbrushes it can produce, the owners are expanding the plant. They are deciding which product line to emphasize. To make this decision, they assemble the following data:

Per Unit

Deluxe Toothbrush Standard Toothbrush

Sales price \(88 \)54

Variable expense 22 18

Contribution margin \(66 \)36

Contribution margin ratio 75.0% 66.7%

After expansion, the factory will have a production capacity of 4,900 machine hours per month. The plant can manufacture 65 standard electric toothbrushes or 27 deluxe electric toothbrushes per machine hour.

Requirements

1. Identify the constraining factor for Brik.

2. Prepare an analysis to show which product line the company should emphasize.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The company should emphasizestandard toothbrushes.

Step by step solution

01

Meaning of Contribution Margin Ratio

The contribution margin ratio is the mathematical representation of the contribution margin generated by a business entity. It is presented in percentage form and is computed by dividing thenet sales by thecontribution margin.

02

Identification of constraining factor

As per the given information, the constraining factor for Brik is machine hours. After expansion, the factory will have a production capacity of 4,900 machine hours per month.

03

Preparation of analysis

Particulars

Deluxe Toothbrush ($)

Standard Toothbrush ($)

Contribution margin per unit (A)

66

36

Units produced per machine hour (B)

27

65

Contribution margin per machine hour (A*B)

$1,782

$2,340

Comment:

The company should produce more units of standard toothbrushes because it provides a higher contribution margin per machine hour.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

What makes information irrelevant to decision making?

Members of the board of directors of Security Team have received the following operating income data for the year ended March 31, 2018:

SECURITY CHECK

Income Statement

For the Year Ended May 31, 2018

Product Line

Industrial Systems

Household Systems

Total

Net Sales Revenue

\( 300,000

\) 330,000

\( 630,000

Cost of Goods Sold:

Variable

35,000

42,000

77,000

Fixed

210,000

63,000

273,000

Total Cost of Goods Sold

245,000

105,000

350,000

Gross Profit

55,000

225,000

280,000

Selling and Administrative Expenses:

Variable

66,000

77,000

143,000

Fixed

39,000

28,000

67,000

Total Selling and Administrative Expenses

105,000

105,000

210,000

Operating Income (Loss)

\) (50,000)

\( 120,000

\) 70,000

Members of the board are surprised that the industrial systems product line is losing money. They commission a study to determine whether the company should drop the line. Company accountants estimate that dropping industrial systems will decrease fixed cost of goods sold by \(81,000 and decrease fixed selling and administrative expenses by \)15,000.

Requirements

1. Prepare a differential analysis to show whether Security Team should drop the industrial systems product line.

2. Prepare contribution margin income statements to show Security Team’s total operating income under the two alternatives: (a) with the industrial systems line and (b) without the line. Compare the difference between the two alternatives’ income numbers to your answer to Requirement 1.

3. What have you learned from this comparison in Requirement 2?

Newtown Sunglasses sell for about \(154 per pair. Suppose that the company incurs the following average costs per pair:

Direct materials \)39

Direct labor 15

Variable manufacturing overhead 6

Variable selling expenses 3

Fixed manufacturing overhead 20*

Total cost \(83

* \)2,050,000 Total fixed manufacturing overhead / 102,500 Pairs of sunglasses

Newtown has enough idle capacity to accept a one-time-only special order from Water Shades for 17,000 pairs of sunglasses at \(80 per pair. Newtown will not incur any variable selling expenses for the order.

Requirements

1. How would accepting the order affect Newtown’s operating income? In addition to the special order’s effect on profits, what other (longer-term qualitative) factors should Newtown’s managers consider in deciding whether to accept the order?

2. Newtown’s marketing manager, Peter Kyler, argues against accepting the special order because the offer price of \)80 is less than Newtown’s $83 cost to make the sunglasses. Kyler asks you, as one of Newtown’s staff accountants, to explain whether his analysis is correct. What would you say?

What is the decision rule for selling a product as is or processing it further?

StoreAll produces plastic storage bins for household storage needs. The company makes two sizes of bins: large (50 gallon) and regular (35 gallon). Demand for the products is so high that StoreAll can sell as many of each size as it can produce. The company uses the same machinery to produce both sizes. The machinery can be run for only 3,300 hours per period. StoreAll can produce 10 large bins every hour, whereas it can produce 17 regular bins in the same amount of time. Fixed costs amount to \(115,000 per period. Sales prices and variable costs are as follows:

Regular Large

Sales price per unit \)8.00 $10.40

Variable cost per unit 3.50 4.40

Requirements

1. Which product should StoreAll emphasize? Why?

2. To maximize profits, how many of each size bin should StoreAll produce?

3. Given this product mix, what will the company’s operating income be?

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