When the Defense Department Ordered 132 New Airplanes, the Cost

question 302

Multiple Choice

When the Defense Department ordered 132 new airplanes, the cost per plane was estimated to be $580 million. A cut in the order to 75 planes increased the per plane cost to $800 million. This change in per unit cost can be explained by

• A)a move to minimum efficient scale.
• B)the law of diminishing returns.
• C)the loss of economies of scale.
• D)an increase in total fixed cost.

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Definitions:

Customer Cost Analysis

The process of analyzing the costs related to acquiring and serving a customer, often to determine profitability.

Processing Batches

Groups of items or materials processed together through a production or manufacturing procedure at the same time.

Activity-Based Costing

A costing method that assigns overhead and indirect costs to specific products or services based on the actual consumption of resources.

Activity Rates

The cost driver rates used in activity-based costing to allocate expenses to products or services based on their consumption of activities.