Medium2 marksMultiple Choice
Specialist Cost and Management Accounting TechniquesThroughput AccountingPerformance ImprovementSyllabus Area B
This question is part of a case study — click to read the full scenario(Case 16)

Section B - Case 1: AeroBlade Dynamics

AeroBlade Dynamics manufactures heavy wind turbine blades. They produce two models: Standard and Advanced. The factory operates a highly specialized molding machine which is the bottleneck resource. Total bottleneck hours available per month are 3,000 hours. Total factory costs (excluding direct materials) are $120,000 per month.

Data per unit:
Standard Blade: Selling Price = $200, Direct Material Cost = $80, Machine Hours = 2 hours.
Advanced Blade: Selling Price = $350, Direct Material Cost = $150, Machine Hours = 4 hours.

Calculate the Return per Factory Hour for the Advanced Blade. (Enter the number only)

ACCA · Question 19 · Specialist Cost and Management Accounting Techniques

Section B - Case 1: AeroBlade Dynamics

AeroBlade Dynamics wants to improve the Throughput Accounting Ratio (TPAR) of its products.

Which TWO of the following actions would directly increase the TPAR?

Answer options:

A.

Reducing the time spent on the bottleneck machine per unit.

B.

Increasing the total factory costs (operating expenses).

C.

Negotiating a lower purchase price for direct materials.

D.

Decreasing the selling price of the blades to boost volume.

How to approach this question

Look at the TPAR formula components: (Selling Price - Material Cost) / Time on Bottleneck, all divided by (Total Factory Cost / Total Bottleneck Time). To increase TPAR, you must increase the numerator or decrease the denominator.

Full Answer

TPAR = Return per factory hour / Cost per factory hour. To increase TPAR, a company can: 1. Increase selling price. 2. Decrease material costs (Option C). 3. Decrease time on the bottleneck (Option A). 4. Decrease total factory costs.

Common mistakes

Thinking that increasing volume by dropping price helps TPAR; TPAR is a per-hour metric, dropping price hurts the ratio.

Practice the full ACCA PM — Performance Management Practice Exam 5

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