TufStuff, Inc., sells a wide range of drums, bins, boxes, and other containers that are used in the chemical industry. One of the company’s products is a heavy-duty corrosion-resistant metal drum, called the WVD drum, used to store toxic wastes. Production is constrained by the capacity of an automated welding machine that is used to make precision welds. A total of 2,300 hours of welding time is available annually on the machine. Because each drum requires 0.8 hours of welding machine time, annual production is limited to 2,875 drums. At present, the welding machine is used exclusively to make the WVD drums. The accounting department has provided the following financial data concerning the WVD drums:

WVD Drums
Selling price per drum $ 175.00
Cost per drum:
Direct materials $45.40
Direct labor ($18 per hour) 4.50
Manufacturing overhead 4.05
Selling and administrative expense 16.30 70.25
Margin per drum $ 104.75
Management believes 3,375 WVD drums could be sold each year if the company had sufficient manufacturing capacity. As an alternative to adding another welding machine, management has considered buying additional drums from an outside supplier. Harcor Industries, Inc., a supplier of quality products, would be able to provide up to 1,800 WVD-type drums per year at a price of $130 per drum, which TufStuff would resell to its customers at its normal selling price after appropriate relabeling.