Quality Industries Manufactures Large Workbenches for Industrial Use In Order to Reduce Costs So as to Reach the the Vice

question 7

Multiple Choice

Quality Industries manufactures large workbenches for industrial use. Yewell Hartnet, the Vice President for marketing at Quality Industries, concluded from market analysis that sales were dwindling for Quality's workbenches due to aggressive pricing by competitors. Quality's workbench sells for $1,140 whereas the competition's comparable workbench sells for $1,060. Yewell determined that a price drop to $1,060 would be necessary to retain market share and annual sales of 13,000 workbenches.
Cost data based on sales of 13,000 workbenches:
$\begin{array}{lccc}&\begin{array}{c}\text { Budgeted } \\\text { Quantity }\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}\text { Actual } \\\text { Quantity }\end{array} &\text { Actual Cost} \\\text { Direct materials (pounds) } & 175,000 & 168,000 & \$ 3,450,000 \\\text { Direct labor (hours) } & 72,800 & 71,500 & 825,000 \\\text { Machine setups (no. of setups) } & 900 & 880 & 250,000 \\\text { Mechanical assembly (machine hours) } & 273,000 & 281,250 & 3,750,000\end{array}$ In order to reduce costs so as to reach the desired target cost, Quality Industries should also focus on reducing the cost of:

• A) Direct materials
• B) Direct labor
• C) Machine setups
• D) Mechanical assembly

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Definitions:

Sales Capacity

The maximum volume or number of units a company can sell under current resources and market conditions.

Projected Future Sales

An estimate of the amount of sales or revenues that a company expects to achieve in a future period.

Debt-Equity Ratio

An index showing the relative financing contribution of equity and debt to a company's assets.

Growth Rate

The rate at which a company's sales, earnings, dividends, or other financial indicators increase over a period of time.