UNIT STANDARDS Most operating managers recognize the need to control costs. Cost control often means the difference between success and failure or between above-average profits and lesser profits. For example. Navistar, Inc. had a specific plan to produce 883 trucks for a given month at a cost of S41 million. In reality, they produced 1,228 units at a cost of S48 mil- lion. Clearly, in total they spent more than planned but also produced more than they planned. The key question is whether the S48 million associated with the 1,228 trucks was consistent with the original plan or not. Were production costs in control or not? Did the manager do well or not? In order to answer these questions, information about the budgeted and actual costs must be compared. The total cost per unit is computed as follows: