Hetrick Dentistry Services operates in a large metropolitan area. Currently, Hetrick has its own dental laboratory to produce porcelain and gold crowns. The unit costs to produce the crowns are as follows:

Porcelain Gold
Raw materials $70 $130
Direct labor 27 27
Variable overhead 8 8
Fixed overhead 22 22
Total $127 $187

Fixed overhead is detailed as follows:

Salary (supervisor) $26,000
Depreciation 5,000
Rent (lab facility) 32,000

Overhead is applied on the basis of direct labor hours. These rates were computed by using 5,500 direct labor hours. A local dental laboratory has offered to supply Hetrick all the crowns it needs. Its price is $125 for porcelain crowns and$150 for gold crowns; however, the offer is conditional on supplying both types of crowns—it will not supply just one
type for the price indicated. If the offer is accepted, the equipment used by Hetrick's laboratory would be scrapped (it i!
old and has no market value), and the lab facility would be closed. Hetrick uses 2,000 porcelain crowns and 600 gold crowns per year.

Required:
Conceptual Connection: Should Hetrick continue to make its own crowns, or should they be purchased from the external supplier?