$16$ point

A manufacturing company has found that altering their process improves the quality of their product so that they have less waste per ton of raw material used to produce their product. The new process, however, requires more energy and more labor. Training, support and setup for the new process is required to make sure results will be consistent. The company believes the benefit will last four years before the product is obsolete in the market. The company has a $12\%$ hurdle rate for projects of this type $($i$.$e$.,$ the required rate of return is $12\%)$ and requires a $36-$month payback period. They are subject to a $25\%$ tax rate.

The initial investment consists of $$100,000,$ all of which is a period expense $($i$.$e$.,$ part of cash operating expenses in Year $0).$ The net savings, including the effect of material consumption, labor, energy, etc., would $$35000$ per year for years $1-4.$ This amount would reduce cash operating expenses in the forecast years $($creating a positive effect on operating income$).$

How many months is the pay back period for this proposal?

Enter your answer as a number with two decimal places. For example, if your answer is $90\mathrm{.}1234,$ enter $90\mathrm{.}12$