C&A Pottery makes ceramic vases using a process that involves forming, drying, firing, and glazing. The 5 workers each takes on average 60 minutes to form a vase. The vases will then be loaded into an oven to dry. The oven can hold up to 100 pieces and it takes 5 minutes to load each vase. Once all the vases are loaded into the oven, it takes 24 hours to dry each load. The dried vases are then placed in a kiln that holds up to 100 pieces. It takes 6 minutes to load each vase and the vases will be fired in the kiln for 72 hours. After firing, 3 workers each take an average of 2 hours to glaze each vase. C&A receives an order of 1 vase per hour. What is the smallest batch size to ensure the process is demand-constrained?

Zachary company produces commercial gardening equipment. since production is highly automated, the company allocates its overhead costs to product lines using activity-based costing. the costs and cost drivers associated with the four overhead activity cost pools follow: activities unit level batch level product level facility level cost $ 64,800 $ 27,730 $ 15,000 $ 154,000 cost driver 2,400 labor hrs. 47 setups percentage of use 11,000 units production of 780 sets of cutting shears, one of the company’s 20 products, took 240 labor hours and 7 setups and consumed 15 percent of the product-sustaining activities. required: (a) had the company used labor hours as a company wide allocation base, how much overhead would it have allocated to the cutting shears? (b) how much overhead is allocated to the cutting shears using activity-based costing? (c) compute the overhead cost per unit for cutting shears first using activity-based costing and then using direct labor hours for allocation if 780 units are produced. if direct product costs are $150 and the product is priced at 30 percent above cost for what price would the product sell under each allocation system? (d) assuming that activity-based costing provides a more accurate estimate of cost, indicate whether the cutting shears would be over- or underpriced if direct labor hours are used as an allocation base. explain how over-or undercosting can affect vaulker's profitability. (e) comment on the validity of using the allocated facility-level cost in the pricing decision. should other costs be considered in a cost- plus pricing decision? if so, which ones? what costs would you include if you were trying to decide whether to accept a special order?