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 $32 per unit. To evaluate this offer, Troy Engines, Ltd., has gathered the following information relating to its own cost of producing the carburetor internally:

	Per Unit				17,000 Units Per Year
Direct materials	$	14		$	238,000
Direct labor		8			136,000
Variable manufacturing overhead		3			51,000
Fixed manufacturing overhead, traceable		3	*		51,000
Fixed manufacturing overhead, allocated		6			102,000
Total cost	$	34		$	578,000

*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 17,000 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 $170,000 per year. Given this new assumption, what would be the financial advantage (disadvantage) of buying 17,000 carburetors from the outside supplier?

4. Given the new assumption in requirement 3, should the outside supplier’s offer be accepted?

Answer 1

1
	Per unit		Total 17000 units
	Make	Buy	Make	Buy
Direct materials	14		238000
Direct labor	8		136000
Variable manufacturing overhead	3		51000
Fixed manufacturing overhead traceable	1		17000
Purchase cost		32		544000
Total			442000	544000
Difference in favor of making = 544000-442000 = $102000
Financial (disadvantage) $(102000)
2
No, reject the outside supplier’s offer
3
	Make	Buy
Total cost (as above)	442000	544000
Opportunity cost	170000
Total relevant cost	612000	544000
Difference in favor of buying = 612000-544000 = $68000
Financial advantage $68000
4
Accept the outside supplier’s offer