Chapter 3, Problem 2MAD

Analyzing process cost elements across product types

Mystic Bottling Company bottles popular beverages in the Bottling Department. The beverages are produced by blending concentrate with water and sugar. The concentrate is purchased from a concentrate producer. The concentrate producer sets higher prices for the more popular concentrate flavors. A simplified Bottling Department cost of production report separating the cost of bottling the four flavors follows:

Beginning and ending work in process inventories are negligible, so they are omitted from the cost of production report. The flavor changeover cost represents the cost of cleaning the bottling machines between production runs of different flavors. A production ran of a new flavor is produced after a flavor changeover from the previous flavor. Higher-demand flavors are produced in larger production runs, while smaller-demand flavors are produced in smaller production runs.

Prepare a memo to the production manager, analyzing this comparative cost information. In your memo, provide recommendations for further action, along with supporting schedules showing the total cost per case and cost per case by cost element. Round supporting calculations to the nearest cent.