Statistical quality control. Harvest Cereals produces a wide variety of breakfast products. The company’s three best-selling breakfast cereals are Double Bran Bits, Honey Wheat Squares, and Sugar King Pops. Each box of a particular type of cereal is required to meet predetermined weight specifications, so that no single box contains more or less cereal than another. The company measures the mean weight per production run to determine if there are variances over or under the company’s specified upper- and lower-level control limits. A production run that falls outside of the specified control limit does not meet quality standards and is investigated further by management to determine the cause of the variance. The three Harvest breakfast cereals had the following weight standards and production run data for the month of March:
Quality Standard: Mean Weight per Production Run
Double Bran Bits | Honey Wheat Squares | Sugar King Pops |
17.97 ounces | 14 ounces | 16.02 ounces |
- 1. Using the ±2σ rule, what variance investigation decisions would be made?
- 2. Present control charts for each of the three breakfast cereals for March. What inferences can you draw from the charts?
- 3. What are the costs of quality in this example? How could Harvest employ Six Sigma programs to improve quality?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 19 Solutions
REVEL for Horngren's Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis -- Access Card (16th Edition) (What's New in Accounting)
- Sugar and Spice Foods is famous for its cupcakes. One of the main ingredients of the cupcakes is sugar, which Sugar and Spice purchases by the pound. In addition, the production requires a certain amount of direct labor. Sugar and Spice uses a standard cost system, and at the end of the first quarter, there was a favorable direct labor efficiency variance. Which of the following is a logical explanation for that variance? A. The purchasing manager was able to secure a volume discount on dried fruit, purchasing the sugar for less than the amount set by standard. B. The factory lost two experienced workers at the beginning of the quarter, and their replacements wasted a large amount of direct materials during their training period. C. The cost of workers' medical insurance plans jumped up dramatically during the quarter. D. The production staff changed the work flow process so that production required fewer direct labor hours than the standards…arrow_forwardNonfinancial variances. Kathy’s Kettle Potato Chips produces gourmet chips distributed to chain sub shops throughout California. To ensure that their chips are of the highest quality and have taste appeal, Kathy has a rigorous inspection process. For quality control purposes, Kathy has a standard based on the number of pounds of chips inspected per hour and the number of pounds that pass or fail the inspection. Kathy expects that for every 1,000 pounds of chips produced, 200 pounds of chips will be inspected. Inspection of 200 pounds of chips should take 1 hour. Kathy also expects that 1% of the chips inspected will fail the inspection. During the month of May, Kathy produced 113,000 pounds of chips and inspected 22,300 pounds of chips in 120 hours. Of the 22,300 pounds of chips inspected, 215 pounds of chips failed to pass the inspection.arrow_forwardSolomon Fruit Basket Company makes baskets of assorted fruit. The standard and actual costs of oranges used in each basket of fruit follow. Standard Actual Average number of oranges per basket Price per orange 8.70 9.20 x $0.30 x $0.25 $2.30 Cost of oranges per basket $2.61 Solomon actually produced 26,400 baskets. Required a. Determine the materials price variance and indicate whether it is favorable (F) or unfavorable (U). b. Determine the materials usage variance and indicate whether it is favorable (F) or unfavorable (U). (For all requirements, Select "None" there is no effect (i.e., zero variance).) a. Total materials price variance b. Total materials usage variancearrow_forward
- I need help with sales mix variance and quantity variance, please.arrow_forwardQ.What advantage does Nantucket get by using Beverage Mate’s benchmark data as standards in calculating its variances? Identify two issues that Bryant should keep in mind in using the Beverage Mate data as the standards.arrow_forwardDirect materials efficiency, mix, and yield variances. Sandy’s Snacks produces snack mixes for the gourmet and natural foods market. Its most popular product is Tempting Trail Mix, a mixture of peanuts, dried cranberries, and chocolate pieces. For each batch, the budgeted quantities and budgeted prices are as follows:arrow_forward
- Q.Calculate the total direct materials efficiency variance.arrow_forwardPerformance Eval Variances: Refer to the pictures. Thank you!arrow_forwardPossible causes for price and efficiency variances. You have been invited to interview for an internship with an international food manufacturing company. When you arrive for the interview, you are given the following information related to a ctitious Belgian chocolatier for the month of June. The chocolatier manufactures truffles in 12-piece boxes. The production is labor intensive, and the delicate nature of the chocolate requires a high degree of skill.arrow_forward
- Feel soft Beauty cosmetics manufacturing company produces two products, Sunscreen and Moisturizer creams. The company gives the following information. Products Standard Quantity (Units) Standard Price ($) Actual Quantity (Units) Actual Price ($) Sunscreen 40 50 50 50 Moisturizer 60 40 60 45 Required to Calculate the following Feel soft Beauty cosmetics co. Material Price variance Material cost variance Material usage variance Explain the following variances. Sales mix variance Sales volume variance Explain the term divisional performance and explain any two common measures of divisional performance.arrow_forwardDog Bone Bakery, which bakes dog treats, makes a special biscuit for dogs. Each biscuit uses 0.75 cup of pure semolina flour. They buy 4,000 cups of flour at $0.55 per cup. They use 3,550 cups of flour to make 4,750 biscuits. The standard cost per cup of flour is $0.53. A. What are the direct materials price variance, the direct materials quantity variances, and the total direct materials cost variance? B. What is the standard cost per biscuit for the semolina flour?arrow_forwardComparative Income Statements and Sales Performance Variances; Current to PriorYear Green Grow Inc. manufactures riding lawn mowers that it sells to the large discount storessuch as Walmart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. The mowers are marketed as a “value” product, withgood quality at a very good price. The company’s two products are the Quality mower, which lastyear sold for $1,200 (the discounters retailed it for $1,500), and the Heavy Duty model, which GreenGrow sold for $1,600 (and was retailed for $2,200). At the end of last year, the company had comeunder increased price competition from other manufacturers. The company management believes itmust reduce its price in the current year on both products to keep its current market share with salesof 3,500 units. The unit variable costs for the Quality and Heavy Duty products are $800 and $950,respectively. Management does not believe it can reduce these variable costs for the coming yearbut will begin to study ways to do so for future…arrow_forward
- Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage LearningManagerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Accounting Volume 2AccountingISBN:9781947172609Author:OpenStaxPublisher:OpenStax College