A piece of labor-saving equipment has just come onto the market that Mitsui Electronics, Limited, could use to reduce costs in one of its plants in Japan. Relevant data relating to the equipment follow:

Purchase cost of the equipment	$ 270,000
Annual cost savings that will be provided by the equipment	$ 60,000
Life of the equipment	12	years

Required:

1a. Compute the payback period for the equipment.

1b. If the company requires a payback period of four years or less, would the equipment be purchased?