Question

A firm plans to begin production of a new small appliance. The manager must decide whether to purchase the motors for the appliance from a vendor at $11 each or to produce them in-house. Either of two processes could be used for in-house production; Process A would have an annual fixed cost of $200,000 and a variable cost of $7 per unit, and Process B would have an annual fixed cost of $180,000 and a variable cost of $8 per unit. Determine the range of annual volume for which each of the alternatives would be best.

Answer 1

If the firm is going to need less than 50,000 motors, they should purchase them from the outside vendor.

If the firm is going to use between 50,000 to 59,999 motors, it should use process A.

If the firm expects to use 60,000 or more motors per year, it should use process B.

Step-by-step explanation:

Process A:

contribution margin per unit = $11 - $7 = $4

break even number of units = $200,000 / $4 = 50,000 units

Process B:

contribution margin per unit = $11 - $8 = $3

break even number of units = $180,000 / $3 = 60,000 units