Question

Charles lackey operates a bakery in Idaho, Falls Because of its excellent product location, demand has increased by 35% in the last year. On far too many occasions, customers have not been able to purchase the bread of their choice. Because of the size of the store, no new ovens can be added. At a staff meeting, one employee suggested ways to load the ovens differently so that more loaves of bread can be backed at one time. this new process will require that the ovens be loaded by hand, requiring additional manpower. This is the only production change that will be made in order to meet the increased demand. The bakery currently makes 1,800 loaves per month. Employees are paid $8.00 per hour. In addition to the labor cost, Charles has a constant utility cost per month of $800 and a per loaf ingredient cost of $0.40.
1. Current multi-factor productivity for 640 work hours per month =_____.
2. After increasing the number of work hours to 864 per month, the multi-factor productivity =______.
3. The percentage increase in productivity =______.

Answer 1

Answer:

1) $0.27 per loaf of bread

2) $0.28 per loaf of bread

3) 3.7%

Explanation:

current production = 1,800 loaves per month

current labor expense = $8 per hour

constant utility cost = $800

ingredients per loaf = $0.40

multi-factor productivity = total output / (labor + materials + overhead)

current multi-factor productivity = 1,800 loaves / ($5,120 + $800 + $720) = $0.27 per loaf of bread

new output level = 1,800 x 1.35 = 2,430 loaves

new multi-factor productivity = 2,430 loaves / ($6,912 + $800 + $972) = $0.28 per loaf of bread

% increase = ($0.28 - $0.27) / $0.27 = 3.7%