For ease of presentation, only four types of overhead activities, performed by four
distinct support departments, are assumed: setting up the equipment for each batch,
machining, inspecting, and moving a batch. Each box of 12 cards is inspected after each
department’s operations. After cutting, the cards are inspected individually to ensure
correct shape. After printing, the boxes of cards are also inspected individually to ensure
correct wording, absence of smudges, insertion of fragrance, etc. Overhead costs
are assigned to the two production departments using the direct method (described in
Chapter 7). Setup costs are assigned based on the number of setups handled by each
department. Since the number is identical, each department receives 50 percent of the
total setup costs. Machining costs are assigned in proportion to the number of machine
hours used by each department. Finally, inspection costs are assigned in proportion to
the number of inspection hours used. The costs of moving materials are assigned by
the number of moves used by each department (which is the same for each department).