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Behemoth Motors Corps Case Study

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Behemoth Motors Corps (BMC) has decided to include a Global Positioning System navigator (GPSN) in all of its Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV). Our department has received an offer from Far East Enterprises, Ltd (FEE) to produce GPSNs for us. They require a 2-year contract and will provide GPSNs at the same pace we can produce them ourselves. The department must thoroughly explore every aspect of this offer prior to accepting or declining. The managerial accountants have prepared the following information, which breaks down the cost of each unit, compares the costs of each unit, and suggests a course of action that is in our best interests.
In order to determine the correct course of action for our department, the managerial accountants have …show more content…

In order to make a GPSN, the department must buy materials locally in month-to-month contracts. There are 100 employees that comprise the direct labor required to build each GPSN. Factory space is required to house the manufacturing, and the basic rate of $2.50 per sq. ft. is applied across all BMCs departments to cover factory costs. 16,000 sq. ft. leads to a $40,000 charge each month. Supervisors do not fall into direct labor, because they are not actively involved in the creation of a GPSN. Their costs account for $56,000 a month and must be added to the cost of each GPSN. Finally, general overhead is spread across every operating unit within BMC. The overhead cost dedicated to this department is $640,000 per month. This brings the cost of each GPSN built in house to $425. FEE is offering to build each GPSN for $400 at a rate of 8,000 per month for 2 years. This is not the final cost for BMC, because there are some additional costs that come into play with the decision to purchase GPSNs. The decision to buy GPSNs will trigger a layoff of the 100 direct labor employees in the department. When this occurs, BMC will be required to pay $66,000 to the employee union for four years. Since the contract is for 2 years, this should be paid in full at the conclusion of the contract. This means that $132,000 must be added to the annual cost of GPSNs provided by FEE. This …show more content…

As previously explained, BMC can build a GPSN at a cost of $425 while FEE can provide them to BMC at a cost of $403.88. If the department chooses to outsource the product from FEE, it will save $21.12 per GPSN purchased from FEE. There are other aspects that must be considered as well. “There is danger that throughputs can be taken as a proxy for outcomes” (Coombs, Hobbs, and Jenkins, 2005). The quality of GPSN purchased from FEE must meet or exceed the quality of the product built at BMC. Simply looking at the cost of each unit could lead to disastrous results if the quality of GPSN purchased from FEE were much lower than our current standard. Fortunately for our department, FEE has the same failure rate in their GPSN as our GPSN department, which is currently at 2%. Possibly even more important than unit cost and quality, one must compare the two choices and determine how each affects the department’s core competencies. “Make or buy is a decision not to be made only on the basis of economic considerations, since acquisition or loss of core competencies may be involved”(Bajec and Jacomin 2010). This is important because one must determine if building GPSNs is central to BMC’s strategic future. “Moreover, to make the best make-or-buy decision, companies must determine how that decision will affect the final product quality and the

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