Document wrZxya80NOnyNXyxxQp85kxeE

VYMUSHC9IM2 E I d u Po n t d e Ne mo u r s S Co mp a n y INCORPORATED Wil min g t o n De l a w a r e 19898 CHEMICAI-S AND PIGMENTS DEPARTMENT JWDietz May 11 1983 TO FROM B H GARTH B-6237 G A SCHLENK J/J&f B-13255 fE-A J EDISON B--9248 COST-BY-GRADE UPDATE FOR QA PIGMENTS - 1982 In response to your needs for cost-by-grade information for QA pigments, an update of previous studies has been carried out to estimate 1982 grade costs for the QA product line The data collected include 1982 sales volume selling price, and variable and fixed cost of manufacture for each grade and group averages The quantitative estimates for the various classes of QA products are summarized m Exhibit II, where Exhibit I portrays productions and relationships among the various crude, semifinishing and finishing production cost centers The key to these Exhibits is Exhibit I - Production and Process Relationships m QA Manufacturing - 1982 Exhibit II - 1982 Manufacturing Cost-By-Grade - Qumacndone Pigments An effort to update the GCM cost-by-grade computer model would be costly About 3-5 man-months of effort, evenly divided between Wilmington and the two plants would be needed for a special study or "one-time basis In addition technical and clerical effort to maintain the GCM process data base requires about two man-months per year Therefore, we are reluctant to allocate resources to restart a GCM program The present accounting system and special studies such as this one will hopefully satisfy your needs for product cost data N37143 Study Bases The following previous studies and business records served as bases for estimating 1982 QA cost-by-grade e Sales volume and selling price by grade were extracted from the Colored Pigments Sales and Transfers Summary Report No 34 e Newport and Newark plant cost sheets were used to collect group variable and fixed costs and to deduce the material flows shown as Exhibit I The No 1 - 1980 QA Cost-By-Grade Forecast prepared by R R Osgood (2/18/80) was used for existing products as an estimating tool for the current study Cost-by-grade for new products (RT-859-D, RT-343-D YT-915-D) was estimated based on current or anticipated processes and the writer's judgment of plant performance In addition* production volumes shown in Exhibit I represent equilibrium conditions, i e , no inventory changes of in-process or finished products Since there was a concerted inventory reduction program in 1982, actual productions do not agree with those shown in Exhibit I Results and Observations Exhibit II provides the cost-by-grade data for Colored Pigments Division business planning The data may be useful m long-range product line or pricing strategy However where excess production capacity exists fixed co6t comparisons by grade may not be meaningful, especially when evaluating spot sale opportunities Fixed costs represent comparative labor and investment intensiveness between products and may not be a good short-run dec sion-making tool Because the data are extrapolations of past studies and because changes have occurred m our accounting system, product mix and plant capacity utilization, some comparisons of costs between members of different grade classes, e g , RW-767-P QA Dispersed Paste and RT-790-D Linear QA Finished Product, may not be valid Such comparisons would be better made m a specific study of these two products and processes Nevertheless the writers feel that grade costs reported here are within 5-10% of those that would be obtained from a costly updated GCM program Even m cases where facilities are operating near capacity a more detailed examination of the problem of optimizing product mix must be made Many analysts suggest a dollars profit per limiting machine hour comparison as a more meaningful decision tool than cost per pound or profit per pound DUP050146673 3 If Colored Pigments feels that QA offers real volume and profit growth potential, an analysis by Linear Programming or some other operations research procedure may be m order Such programs have been prepared for T1O2 ore planning and Planning and Intelligence can develop a QA model if Colored Pigments sees a need and is willing to support the development cost Such a model could indicate optimal product mixes for improved profitability or market share GASchlenk/ktb Attachment 5/11/83 {0061K) DUP050146674 c u -- ccoo O -V* um DUP050146675 N37143.01 - -EXHIBIT I PRODUCTION AND PROCESS RELATIONSHIPS IN Qft MANUFACTURING EXHIBIT II 1982 MANUFACTURING COST-BY-GRADE - QUINACRIDONE PIGMENTS 1982 Sales Volume M lb QA Crudes for' RT-231-D RT-236-D RT-238-D Sale 304 6 1982 Selling Price i/lb 10 43 Linear QA Finished Products RT-201-D 43 2 RT-209-D 157 6 RT-733-D 10 2 RT-742-D 31 6 RT-759-D 315 6 RT-763-P 87 RT-790-D 35 2 RT-791-D 62 1 RT-792-D 115 4 RT-795-D 56 2 RT-796-D 101 1 RT-859-D 16 0 RT-887-D 67 4 RT-899-D 19 1 RT-959-D 0 02 YT-815-D 12 2 YT-823-D 26 8 YT-915-D 02 Group Avg 1078 6 19 67 25 77 6 77 23 04 19 77 19 23 21 99 20 33 25 12 20 21 21 16 23 00 21 08 21 39 17 13 29 23 24 89 30 91 21 83 Substituted QA Finished Products RT-203-D 01 33 60 RT-218-D 04 34 22 RT-229-D 54 27 27 RT-233-D 85 6 26 62 RT-235-D 37 29 33 RT-243-D 84 8 27 70 RT-273-P 03 25 89 RT-343-D 06 34 35 RT-787-D 79 26 40 Group Avg 188 2 27 19 QA Dispersed RW-252-P RW-767-P RW-768-P Group Avg Pastes 80 30 211 322 0 3 9 2 5 70 5 34 5 46 5 51 GASchlenk/ktb 5/11/83 1982 Cost of Manufacture Variable Fixed, Total, i/lb i/lb t/lb 4 44 3 17 7 61 5 80 4 22 4 81 4 66 4 60 4 49 5 53 5 69 4 06 5 80 5 64 4 78 5 68 5 19 4 60 6 97 2 86 12 16 4 85 12 69 7 57 7 99 7 47 9 47 8 30 7 26 8 45 7 15 7 88 1 42 1 00 0 98 1 09 6 42 9 37 17 21 17 24 4 62 7 50 7 32 8 42 10 02 7 88 6 77 5 69 7 40 9 26 4 62 10 74 9 19 11 59 7 62 18 95 15 95 18 32 17 02 15 11 14 82 13 97 18 73 11 47 15 79 2 31 1 02 1 03 1 34 12 22 13 59 22 02 21 90 9 22 11 99 12 85 14 11 14 08 13 68 12 41 10 47 13 08 14 45 9 22 17 71 12 05 23 75 12 47 31 64 23 52 26 31 24 49 24 58 23 12 21 23 27 18 18 62 23 67 3 73 2 02 3 45 2 43 N37143.02 DUP050146676