Question 1

Concord 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		$	7,494,000
Working capital required at start-up		$	749,400
Salvage value of existing equipment		$	93,675
Annual operating cost savings		$	1,049,160
Salvage value of new equipment at end of its useful life		$	249,800
Working capital released at end of its useful life		$	749,400
Useful life of equipment			10 years

Concord Company uses a 12% discount rate.

a) Calculate the net present value of Concords proposed investment in CIM. (For calculation purposes, use 4 decimal places as displayed in the factor table provided and round final answer to 0 decimal place, e.g. 58,971. Enter negative amounts using a negative sign preceding the number, e.g. -59,991 or parentheses, e.g. (59,991).)

b) Use Excel or a similar spreadsheet application to calculate the internal rate of return on Concords proposed investment. (Round internal rate of return to 2 decimal places, e.g. 15.25%.)

c) Andrew Burr, manager of the Virginia plant, has been looking over Carsons information and believes she has missed some important benefits of implementing CIM. Burr believes that implementing CIM will reduce scrap and rework costs by $187,350 per year. The CIM equipment will take up less floor space in the factory than the old equipment, freeing up 6,000 square feet of space for a planned new research facility. Initial plans called for renting additional space for the new facility, at a cost of $24.98 per square foot. Calculate a revised net present value and internal rate of return using this additional information. (For calculation purposes, use 4 decimal places as displayed in the factor table provided and round final answer to 0 decimal places, e.g. 58,971. Round internal rate of return to 2 decimal places, e.g. 15.25%.)