Chapter 12, Problem 4P

A large law firm uses an average of 40 boxes of copier paper a day. The firm operates 260 days a year. Storage and handling costs for the paper are $30 a year per box, and it costs approximately $60 to order and receive a shipment of paper.

a. What order size would minimize the sum of annual ordering and carrying costs?

b. Compute the total annual cost using your order size from part a.

C. Except for rounding, are annual ordering and carrying costs always equal at the EOQ?

d. The office manager is currently using an order size of 200 boxes. The partners of the firm expect the office to be managed "in a cost-efficient manner." Would you recommend that the office manager use the optimal order size instead of 200 boxes? Justify your answer.