A company is considering buying a piece of materials processing equipment that costs $1,500,000. The useful life of the equipment is 7 years (at which point it will have a scrap value of $100,000), it can process 20 kg/hour of material (with 100 hours/week of operation, maximum, and two operational technicians are required at $20/hour) and requires 20 hours of maintenance per month (also at a hourly rate of $20/hour). Energy costs are negligible. The company currently buys processed materials for $8/kg, but IF they purchase the equipment, they can buy the necessary precursors instead for a total of $4.50 per kg (of output product), and process the material in house. Should they Purchase the equipment and make their own materials, or continue to buy for $8/kg (show your calculations)? What is the minimum useful lifetime of the equipment needed to justify bringing the process in- house?