Finance Case Study: The Wilkerson Company

Abstract The Wilkerson Company started facing declination in profits due to the price cutting on their pumps. On the contrary, while the price pumps were decreasing to record numbers, the flow controllers, which controlled the rate and direction flow of chemicals, could increase its prices without significant loss or any competitive response. Wilkerson, his controller, and manufacturing manager developed an activity-based cost model (ABC) to better comprehend the various demands that each product line makes on the organization 's indirect and support resources. Exhibit 1 showed us our operating results, Exhibit 2 showed us our product profitability analysis, Exhibit 3 displayed our product data, and Exhibit 4 was a compilation of the monthly

The pumps that the Wilkerson company produces are the “bread and butter” of this company. These products are produced at a high rate with a high price competition. As stated earlier, due to the severe price cutting by the competitors, the pre- tax margin of the company dropped extremely low to 3% percent and gross margin to 19.5%. Another product that the company produces are valves. The valves have remained steady around its planned gross margin of 35% with actual of 34.9%; these products are sold and shipped in huge bulk. The last product that this company produces are the flow controllers. Flow controllers are products that are very customizable but are not as competitive on the market demanding higher prices. The planned gross margin for the flow controllers was 35% with an actual margin of 41.%. There was a significant increase without the loss of any business. The Wilkerson company have a quality leadership team; however, there are some things that needs to be changed for the company to succeed and prepare for potential price

Analysis
c. How does Wilkerson’s existing cost system operate? Develop a diagram to show how costs flow from factory expense accounts to products. Costing systems help companies determine the cost of a product related to the revenue it generates. Two common costing systems used in business are traditional costing and activity-based costing. Wilkerson is currently using the traditional costing system. “Companies that use the traditional costing method assume that the volume metric is the underlying driver of manufacturing overhead cost.” Traditional product costing was established when direct material costs and direct labor costs accounted for the bulk of product costs incurred inside a firm. In the Wilkerson company, materials and labor costs are centered around the prices of materials and labor rates. The two factors that demonstrate that the traditional system may produce estimates that are different than that of the unit cost are high overheads and indirect cost