Porch Pirate Protection A study commissioned by Federal Express Canada Corporation (FedEx) that surveyed 1,500 Canadians in September of 2019 found that one in four of those surveyed had had a package stolen and that 70 percent of respondents who shop online worry about package theft". "Porch pirates" steal packages left on front porches when the person ordering the goods is not at home. In 2016, Jamie Foil, an experienced pipeline welder, formed Porch Pirate Protection, Inc. (PPP), a fictitious company headquartered in Guelph, Ontario. PPP sells high quality, welded aluminum boxes designed to thwart porch pirates. While not meteoric, sales have increased steadily each year and in 2020 PPP sold 5,000 units. Jamie wants to continue to grow the business to increase PPP's profitability and to contribute to the local economy. However, the industry is becoming very competitive, and profit margins are getting squeezed. Jamie had been investigating three ideas PPP for 2021. First, by purchasing a forklift and steel shelving, PPP could double the amount of inventory that could be warehoused in PPP's rented location leased for $3,000 per month. This change would address a problem that occurred several times a year when the local metal fabricator was busy with other customers and could not deliver boxes on time to PPP. Purchasing the forklift and steel shelving would cost approximately $30,000 and would be an alternative to using a supplier other than the one local metal fabricator that PPP has always used. Second, Jamie had talked with a local sign company and its metal fabricator about improving the signage and weatherproofing. While this would increase the cost of the boxes by about 10 percent, it would decrease complaints from customers about rain dripping into the boxes and delivery company drivers failing to use the box and leaving packages on the porch. Finally, Jamie is thinking about introducing a second model of the box, the "SeeYou" smart model, that would include a motion-sensitive night-vision camera and notify the box owner of deliveries. While this would require that the box be installed 'DaSilva, T. "Survey finds a 'surprising' number of Canadians have been targeted by porch pirates". Global news posting November 21, 2019. 2 While Porch Pirate Protection Inc. is a fictitious company, there are several companies that manufacture similar products. The YouTube video posted by one of these companies, Brizebox, sells a similar product and their YouTube video explain the dropbox concepts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEgh3DN5hHw 1