“I know that it’s the thing to do,” insisted Pamela Kincaid, vice president of finance for Colgate Manufacturing. “If we are going to be competitive, we need to build this completely automated plant.”
“I’m not so sure,” replied Bill Thomas, CEO of Colgate. “The savings from labor reductions and increased productivity are only $4 million per year. The price tag for this factory—and it’s a small one—is $45 million. That gives a payback period of more than 11 years. That’s a long time to put the company’s money at risk.”
“Yeah, but you’re overlooking the savings that we’ll get from the increase in quality,” interjected John Simpson, production manager. “With this system, we can decrease our waste and our rework time significantly. Those savings are worth another million dollars per year.”
“Another million will only cut the payback to about 9 years,” retorted Bill. “Ron, you’re the marketing manager—do you have any insights?”
“Well, there are other factors to consider, such as service quality and market share. I think that increasing our product quality and improving our delivery service will make us a lot more competitive. I know for a fact that two of our competitors have decided against automation. That’ll give us a shot at their customers, provided our product is of higher quality and we can deliver it faster. I estimate that it’ll increase our net cash benefits by another $2.4 million.”
“Wow! Now that’s impressive,” Bill exclaimed, nearly convinced. “The payback is now getting down to a reasonable level.”
“I agree,” said Pamela, “but we do need to be sure that it’s a sound investment. I know that estimates for construction of the facility have gone as high as $48 million. I also know that the expected residual value, after the 20 years of service we expect to get, is $5 million. I think I had better see if this project can cover our 14% cost of capital.”
“Now wait a minute, Pamela,” Bill demanded. “You know that I usually insist on a 20%
Required:
- 1. Compute the
NPV of the project by using the original savings and investment figures. Calculate by using discount rates of 14% and 20%. Include salvage value in the computation. - 2. Compute the NPV of the project using the additional benefits noted by the production and marketing managers. Also, use the original cost estimate of $45 million. Again, calculate for both possible discount rates.
- 3. Compute the NPV of the project using all estimates of
cash flows , including the possible initial outlay of $48 million. Calculate by using discount rates of 14% and 20%. - 4. CONCEPTUAL CONNECTION If you were making the decision, what would you do? Explain.
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Chapter 12 Solutions
Managerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Business Decision-Making
- At Stardust Gems, a faux gem and jewelry company, the setting department is a bottleneck. The company is considering hiring an extra worker, whose salary will be $67,000 per year, to ease the problem. Using the extra worker, the company will be able to produce and sell 9,000 more units per year. The selling price per unit is $20. The cost per unit currently is $15.85 as shown: What is the annual financial impact of hiring the extra worker for the bottleneck process?arrow_forward“I’m not sure we should lay out $350,000 for that automated welding machine,” said Jim Alder, president of the Superior Equipment Company. “That’s a lot of money, and it would cost us $94,000 for software and installation, and another $60,000 per year just to maintain the thing. In addition, the manufacturer admits it would cost $57,000 more at the end of three years to replace worn-out parts.” “I admit it’s a lot of money,” said Franci Rogers, the controller. “But you know the turnover problem we’ve had with the welding crew. This machine would replace six welders at a cost savings of $124,000 per year. And we would save another $8,500 per year in reduced material waste. When you figure that the automated welder would last for six years, I’m sure the return would be greater than our 15% required rate of return.” “I’m still not convinced,” countered Mr. Alder. “We can only get $22,000 scrap value out of our old welding equipment if we sell it now, and in six years the new machine…arrow_forward"I'm not sure we should lay out $335,000 for that automated welding machine," said Jim Alder, president of the Superior Equipment Company. "That's a lot of money, and it would cost us $91,000 for software and installation, and another $56,400 per year just to maintain the thing. In addition, the manufacturer admits it would cost $54,000 more at the end of three years to replace worn-out parts." "I admit it's a lot of money," said Franci Rogers, the controller. "But you know the turnover problem we've had with the welding crew. This machine would replace six welders at a cost savings of $121,000 per year. And we would save another $8,200 per year in reduced material waste. When you figure that the automated welder would last for six years, I'm sure the return would be greater than our 18% required rate of return." "I'm still not convinced," countered Mr. Alder. "We can only get $20,500 scrap value out of our old welding equipment if we sell it now, and in six years the new machine will…arrow_forward
- “I’m not sure we should lay out $375,000 for that automated welding machine,” said Jim Alder, president of the Superior Equipment Company. “That’s a lot of money, and it would cost us $99,000 for software and installation, and another $66,000 per year just to maintain the thing. In addition, the manufacturer admits it would cost $62,000 more at the end of three years to replace worn-out parts.” “I admit it’s a lot of money,” said Franci Rogers, the controller. “But you know the turnover problem we’ve had with the welding crew. This machine would replace six welders at a cost savings of $129,000 per year. And we would save another $9,000 per year in reduced material waste. When you figure that the automated welder would last for six years, I’m sure the return would be greater than our 14% required rate of return.” “I’m still not convinced,” countered Mr. Alder. “We can only get $24,500 scrap value out of our old welding equipment if we sell it now, and in six years the new machine…arrow_forward"I'm not sure we should lay out $265,000 for that automated welding machine," said Jim Alder, president of the Superior Equipment Company. "That's a lot of money, and it would cost us $78,000 for software and installation, and another $40,800 per year just to maintain the thing. In addition, the manufacturer admits it would cost $41,000 more at the end of three years to replace worn-out parts." "I admit it's a lot of money," said Franci Rogers, the controller. "But you know the turnover problem we've had with the welding crew. This machine would replace six welders at a cost savings of $108,000 per year. And we would save another $6,900 per year in reduced material waste. When you figure that the automated welder would last for six years, I'm sure the return would be greater than our 19% required rate of return." "I'm still not convinced," countered Mr. Alder. "We can only get $14,000 scrap value out of our old welding equipment if we sell it now, and in six years the new machine will…arrow_forwardPlease help! I had the previous answer of $59,832,580 incorrect.arrow_forward
- The management of Kimco is evaluating the possibility of replacing their large mainframe computer with a modern network system that requires much less office space. The network would cost $760,000 (including installation costs) and would save $150,000 per year in net cash flows (accounting for taxes and depreciation) in Year 1-2, $160,000 in year3-4, and $120,000 in year 5 due to efficiency gains. The current mainframe has a remaining book value of $160,000 and would be immediately sold for $120,000. Kimco’s discount rate is 10%, and its tax rate is 25%. Based on NPV, should management install the network system?arrow_forward“I’m not sure we should lay out $265,000 for that automated welding machine,” said Jim Alder, president of the Superior Equipment Company. “That’s a lot of money, and it would cost us $75,000 for software and installation, and another $37,200 per year just to maintain the thing. In addition, the manufacturer admits it would cost $38,000 more at the end of three years to replace worn-out parts.” “I admit it’s a lot of money,” said Franci Rogers, the controller. “But you know the turnover problem we’ve had with the welding crew. This machine would replace six welders at a cost savings of $105,000 per year. And we would save another $6,600 per year in reduced material waste. When you figure that the automated welder would last for six years, I’m sure the return would be greater than our 19% required rate of return.” “I’m still not convinced,” countered Mr. Alder. “We can only get $12,500 scrap value out of our old welding equipment if we sell it now, and in six years the new machine…arrow_forwardWhispering Winds Company manufactures automobile components for the worldwide market. The company has three large production facilities in Virginia, New Jersey, and California, which have been operating for many years. Brett Harker, vice president of production, believes it is time to upgrade operations by implementing computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) at one of the plants. Brett has asked corporate controller Connie Carson to gather information about the costs and benefits of implementing CIM. Carson has gathered the following data: Initial equipment cost $ 6,174,000 Working capital required at start-up $ 600,000 Salvage value of existing equipment 76,350 Annual operating cost savings 855,120 Salvage value of new equipment at end of its useful life 203,600 Working capital released at end of its useful life 600,000 Useful life of equipment 10 years Whispering Winds Company uses a 12% discount rate. Click here to view the factor table $ $ $ $arrow_forward
- If the Rhine Company ignores the possibility that other firms may enter its market, it should set a price of $10,000 for its product, which is a power tool. But if it does so, other firms will begin to enter the market. During the next two years it will earn $4 million per year, but in the following two years it will earn $1 million per year. On the other hand, if it sets a price of $7,000, it will earn $2.5 million in each of the next four years because no entrants will appear. Try various discount (interest) rates and draw a conclusion about the timing of profitsarrow_forwardIf the Rhine Company ignores the possibility that other firms may enter its market, it should set a price of $10,000 for its product, which is a power tool. But if it does so, other firms will begin to enter the market. During the next two years it will earn $4 million per year, but in the following two years it will earn $1 million per year. On the other hand, if it sets a price of $7,000, it will earn $2.5 million in each of the next four years because no entrants will appear. If the interest rate is 10 percent, should the Rhine Company set a price of $7,000 or $10,000? a. NPV $8.4M for $10,000 price b. NPV $10.0M for $10,000 price c. NPV $7.9M for $7,000 price d. NPV $10.0M for $7,000 pricearrow_forwardPeterson Corporation is considering implementing a JIT production system. The new system would reduce current average inventory levels of $2,000,000 by 75%, but it would require a much greater dependency on the company’s core suppliers for on-time deliveries and high-quality inputs. The company’s operations manager, John Leung, is opposed to the idea of a new JIT system. He is concerned that the new system (a) will be too costly to manage; (b) will result in too many stock outs; and (c) will lead to the layoff of his employees, several of whom are currently managing inventory. He believes that these layoffs will affect the morale of his entire production department. The management accountant, Susan Chow, is in favour of the new system, due to the likely result in cost savings. John wants Susan to revise her cost saving estimation because he is concerned that top management will give more weight to financial factors and not give due consideration to nonfinancial factors such as employee…arrow_forward
- Managerial Accounting: The Cornerstone of Busines...AccountingISBN:9781337115773Author:Maryanne M. Mowen, Don R. Hansen, Dan L. HeitgerPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Accounting Volume 2AccountingISBN:9781947172609Author:OpenStaxPublisher:OpenStax College