A financial disadvantage of $150,000 is noted.
Ceasing the bilge pump product line will erase its variable costs; however, some fixed costs will remain intact. To determine the financial outcome of discontinuation, we must also account for any fixed costs that can be saved. The Contribution Margin is calculated from Sales minus variable costs, which excludes variable cost savings. Discontinuing won't impact overall factory overhead or total Purchasing Department expenses, so fixed cost savings will stem from Advertising, Salary of the product line manager, and inventory insurance.
Savings from fixed costs accumulate to $310,000. The Contribution Margin loss from discontinuation amounts to ($460,000). Including fixed costs saved, we calculate:
(460,000) + 310,000 = ($150,000). Thus, $150,000 remains in losses even after considering the fixed costs saved.