We spent a lot of time thinking about the investment into our fixed costs including the welding machine and work shed. During the design phase, we also evaluated the cost of each and every item that went into the manufacture of the lawn ornament. Knowing that the cost of every screw would affect the eventual price, we kept in mind the cost of other similar products on the market. For example, we noticed that similar lawn ornaments do not sell for much more than $20 and we therefore wanted to keep our product within that range. We differentiated our product because of its inclusion of familiar items in the manufacturing process, which offer a "green" look and feel to the ornament. For example, we painted washers white then used them as eyes instead of finding a supplier of specially-made eyes. This not...
We learned how a manufacturing company might project into the future to know how many of the item must be sold in order to make a target profit. One thing we would also like to learn more about includes issues like product placement and other aspects of the marketing mix that might impact the overall project management. For example, when we took the photo of our final item, we thought about how the lawn ornament might be placed in stores. Overall, this project lent tremendous insight into the managerial accounting process from beginning to end and was a valuable assignment.
