MEMORANDUM TO: XXXX, Manager FROM: XXXX, Store Operations Assistant DATE: November 2, 2014 SUBJECT: Completion report on the cost analysis of printing on both sides of a sheet of paper ______________________________________________________________________ I have attached for your viewing a copy of my completed report of the cost analysis of using a duplex printer at T-Mobile location, 11111 Southwest Freeway in XXXX, Texas. This cost analysis involved doing research on the acquisition of either a new printer to replace the existing one or adding on a duplexing module to the existing one. Both options are feasible but I think that replacing the printer is the better decision should we choose to move on. At this time, in order for the above mentioned solution to be affordable, this location would need to print 225 pages a day on average for T-Mobile to recoup the cost of the solution in a timely manner of a year and a half. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to do this cost analysis on this subject. I hope that we can move forward and you and I can get this implemented as soon as possible to begin saving money and wasting less. Cost Analysis Printing duplex pages instead of single pages at T-Mobile Prepared for: XXXX, Store Manager Prepared by: XXXX, Store Operations Assistant November 2, 2014 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1 Research Methods………………………………………………………………………………2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Vendor options…………………………………………………………………………..2 Comparison of the two printers………………………………………………..………2 Possible problems………………………………………………………………………2 Preparing the financial statement……………………………………………..………2 Final findings…………………………………………………………………….………2 Results……………………………………………………………………………………...........3 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………..….7 Recommendation…………………………………………………………………………..…...8 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………..….9 Appendix A: Observation of pages printed…………………………………………………10 List of figures Figure 1: Printer Comparison………………………………………………………………….3 Figure 2: Detailed page consumption………………………………………………………..4 Figure 3: Cost per page and pages printed to breakeven……………………………….…5 Figure 4: Breakeven point………………………………………………………………..……5 1|Page Introduction On September 13, 2014, I approached XXXX for permission to do a cost analysis on the topic of using a duplexer printer at 11111 Southwest Freeway, XXXX, Texas in effort to save the company money by not wasting paper. This is the report which will show the information on whether or not it is a feasible option to move forward with and send upward to the proper persons to implement this into our store and possible other locations as well. A duplexer is a device that attaches to a printer that allows both sides of the paper to be printed on without having to reinsert the paper into the paper tray. My thought is that if we can eliminate printing by half we can save the company money as well as reduce our waste in the stores, and reduce our footprint in the store since we will be printing half as many pages. In the end, I did conclude that the solution of replacing our existing printer with a new one is currently a feasible option because of the future benefit after the breakeven point of a year and a half. In the following sections I will provide all the information I used to make this decision. 2|Page Research Methods 1. I used our partner site Staples Advantage to determine the cost of a new printer, and I used a non-partner website to locate a duplexer for our existing printer because our partner site did not offer a solution for this matter. 2. I also did a side-by-side comparison based on the two printers as far as specs and operating costs go. 3. I thought of some possible problems, and found solutions to those problems. 4. I prepared the financial statement using tables to illustrate the best options for moving forward with the final decision. 5. I explained why I chose the option I ultimately chose for the final solution. 3|Page Results This section will outline the results of my findings in accordance with my research. 1. Vendor options for the acquisition of parts. I used two websites to determine the pricing of both the acquisition of the duplexer for our existing printer and the purchase of a new printer. The duplexer needed for our existing printer was not available through our partner site, Staples, so I located another company that could provide us with one. A Matter of Fax would charge $426.26 for the duplexer add on, (A Matter of Fax) and Staples would charge $749.99 for a new printer that would suit our needs sufficiently. (Staples) 2. Comparison of the old printer to new printer. In regards to the two printers both are comparable with one another as seen in figure 1 below. Figure 1 Printer Comparison Printer HP 4000n HP p3015dn 17 Toner cost per page of Toner Toner cartridge cartridge paper cost yield printed based on yield 500 $184.00 10,000 $0.0184 42 600 Pages Pages of Per paper Minute it (PPM) holds $228.00 12,500 $0.0182 The only big difference that stands out is the pages per minute (PPM). Beyond that, the two are very similar although the new one holds a little more paper. In addition, for the new option the toner cartridge does cost less to operate based on the toner cost per page printed. 3. Possible problems. There is always the potential for problems to arise when changing hardware. Luckily, Hewlett Packard offers support for both printers with the operating systems we currently use. They also offer support on operating systems that are already out but are currently not in use at T-Mobile. T-Mobile also has a service agreement with Hewlett Packard, so in the event of any problems we should have the problem fixed in a timely manner. I also feel that it is best that we install the newer printer after we close so there is no disruption to our customers as they come and go throughout the day. I have estimated 4|Page it would take just a couple of hours to install the solution in our store. This would give us proper time to make sure everything is working properly on all seven of our computers and will perform flawlessly the following morning. We would need to create a ticket through the EIT helpdesk to get this scheduled to have someone come out and install the new printer, and for that, the help desk only needs two days’ notice. 4. Preparing of the financial statements. The following information is based on the store maintaining our average of 10 activations, 10 upgrades, 20 credit card bill payments a day and another 20 cash bill payments per day. We also print around 20 pages a day for miscellaneous reports needed throughout each day as well as our nightly closing reports. Using an average of 20 single sided pages used for activations with about half of those going to customers. Also using the average of 12 single sided pages printed per device upgrade, with again half of those pages going to the customer. Most credit card transactions require just four pages and again half of those are going to the customer. Lastly, the cash transactions do not require we keep a receipt so those are just two pages handed to the customer. Therefore, to sum it up we as a store on an average day print 420 pages a day. Below is a table that shows the above information for an average day. This does not take into consideration device launches, holidays or weekends, all of which where sales are significantly increased. Just to give an idea of how many pages are printed on just the weekends when no new devices launched or fell on a holiday; we used over 1,100 pages of paper on those two days alone. That would be similar for an entire week around holidays or on device launch weeks. Figure 2 Detailed page consumption Number of Average Average pages quantity number of Type of printed per printed pages transaction type of per day printed per transaction * day Activation 20 10 200 Upgrade 12 10 120 Credit card payment 2 20 40 Cash payment 2 20 40 Reports 1 20 20 Total pages per day 420 *Information pulled from Appendix A As far as our cost of supplies goes, we purchase our paper through the Staples Advantage website at a rate of $34.21 per box of paper (Staples Advantage). A box of paper contains 5000 pages of paper making each sheet of paper cost $0.0068. The 5|Page cost of the toner cartridges is virtually the same, so it is not as large of a factor to consider for the purposes of this report. The only variable is the use of the number of sheets of paper a day. Both solutions reduce the amount of paper used by half so it is just a matter of how long before we begin seeing the savings of implementing the solution. The below figure shows the number of pages required to be printed to breakeven. Figure 3 Cost per page and pages printed to breakeven Cost Cost to Amount of of Pages in Cost of upgrade pages Printer paper a box of paper per or until per paper page replace breakeven box HP 4000n $34.21 5,000 $0.006842 $426.26 62,301 HP p3015dn $34.21 5,000 $0.006842 $749.99 109,616 5. Final Findings Based off the above information on what it will cost to either modify the existing printer or replace the existing printer I believe that it is feasible to actually replace the printer and go with a quicker and less expensive to operate printer. I think that we will actually print somewhere around the 225 average pages duplexed and therefore save the company money in as little as one year and six months. Not to mention the HP 4000n was discontinued (HP) and parts will eventually get harder to acquire. This next figure illustrates the option of both modifying the existing printer and replacing the existing one with the newer one based on how long it will take to breakeven. 6|Page Figure 4 Printer HP 4000n HP 4000n HP 4000n HP 4000n HP p3015dn HP p3015dn HP p3015dn HP p3015dn Breakeven point Pages Avg. pages needed to of paper per Days until print to day breakeven breakeven (duplexed) Months until breakeven 62,301 62,301 62,301 62,301 200 225 250 275 312 277 249 227 10.38 9.23 8.31 7.55 109,616 200 548 18.27 109,616 225 487 16.24 109,616 250 438 14.62 109,616 275 399 13.29 7|Page Conclusion After analyzing the information, I believe the best option is to purchase the newer printer. This printer will pay for itself in just a year and a half with our current output and as we continue to increase our customer base at the store the amount of time before we breakeven will be shortened. Also because of the age of our existing printer I think that we will begin to have more and more problems with it and parts will be harder to find, and will result in unprofitable downtime. 8|Page Recommendation I recommend moving forward with the acquisition of the new printer and get with our purchasing department to acquire the new printer for our location. Once the new printer arrives we need to contact EIT helpdesk and schedule a time for them to come out and install the printer. We could even be a pilot store and see how well this works before rolling this out district wide or even companywide possibly. 9|Page Works Cited A Matter of Fax. "Hp DUPLEX ASSY LJ 4000 4050 4100 SER." N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. . "HP LaserJet 4000 Printer Series." HP. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. . Staples. "HP® LaserJet P3015dn Printer | Make More Happen at Staples®." N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. . Staples Advantage. “Staples® Copy Paper, LETTER-Size, 92/104 US/Euro Brightness, 20 lb., 8 1/2" x 11", 10/Case.” N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. . 10 | P a g e Appendix A Observation Type of transaction done Activation Upgrade Number completed on Sunday 7 7 Number completed on Monday 7 6 Number completed on Tuesday 8 11 Number completed on Wednesday 9 11 Credit Card payments 17 15 15 15 15 33 30 20 Cash Payments Reports 22 10 18 30 15 30 20 20 20 20 25 15 20 15 20 20 Observation dates (Sept. 28, 2014-Oct. 4, 2014) Number completed Number on completed Thursday on Friday 9 15 10 12 Number completed on Daily Saturday Average 15 10 13 10 Selecting a Topic for the Research Report The Research Report assignment is the largest single component of your final grade for the course (30 percent). Assignment Overview • You must define a problem. This must be a real problem that currently exists and for which there has been no solution applied. It might be a problem at work, at UHD, at your church or volunteer group. The problem might be lack of proper equipment, such as an inadequate telephone system, to perform certain tasks. The problems might be lack of food services in some buildings at your work place or at UHD. The problem might be lack of child care at work or at school. • This problem must be a real problem being faced by a real existing organization. You will take on the role of an employee of the organization, and you will be reporting to the person responsible for solving the problem you have identified. Ideally, this will be a real person who actually works for the organization you have identified. You must identify that person, real or fictional, and you will write your report for that person. • You must propose at least one potential solution to the problem. You can propose more than one potential solution, and your study will determine which solution will provide the “best” solution to the problem. • Your study and report will not be about the problem you have identified. Your study and report will be about your proposed solution(s). The problem can be explained in your report in two or three paragraphs (with appropriate documentation) as a valid problem. After that, your report will concentrate on the analysis of your proposed solution(s) to determine if the solution proposed is likely to be feasible and will realistically solve the problem. • Be aware that this assignment is not a typical college term paper. You will be expected to collect real information to determine if your proposed solution will likely work or not. That may mean you will be expected to try out your proposed solution. Also please understand that negative results are just as valuable as positive results. For the Topic Selection Assignment, please consider the following: • You must identify the organization and the location where you are considering its application. Identify the location by its street address. • You must identify the person and person’s position / title for whom you will be writing the report. Ideally, this is a real person who works for the organization. • If you are evaluating more than one potential solution, describe the criteria for evaluating the best solution. If you are evaluating only one potential solution, describe the criteria you will use to determine if the proposed solution will solve the problem. • If applicable and appropriate, consider using a questionnaire as a method of gathering real statistical information. • You should do enough preliminary research to determine if you can obtain the information necessary to complete a study on the proposed topic. The Assignment • Write a descriptive title for your research study report. A descriptive title means that the reader should be able to tell what is contained in the report by reading the title. • Identify the organization and location. • Identify the person to whom you will be submitting the final report. Ideally, this is a real person who works for the organization you named. • Define the problem and the organization for which you are proposing at least one potential solution. • Describe your proposed solution(s). • List the criteria you will use for evaluating the proposed solutions. How will you decide if the proposed solution will solve the problem? • If you are planning to use a questionnaire, include a draft of the questionnaire with your topic. • Provide a preliminary Reference page (APA) or a Works Cited page (MLA) listing at least three creditable sources you expect to use while researching your topic. These are preliminary sources only. You may or may not choose to use them. I recognized a problem at the Houston barber School during lunchtime; all the students take about an hour for their break time so the doors are closed for an hour. Clients get frustrated sometime. I consider that reducing the time from one hour to half an hour and keep the doors open for potential clients during the lunch can be beneficial for both; the clients and also the student barber. Also it will bring more clients. For the clients: • They can have their hair cut and save some time. For the students barber: • They can meet more people in a day and train a little more. And on top of that the School get more money from the clients. Reducing lunchtime from one hour to half an hour will promote a healthy way of life because it will push student to cook they own meal and bring them instead of eating junk food. My project will be to demonstrate that the time the students spend on lunch can be reduce and could have positive effect in the departments where they work. ➢ A Solution to make this possible is to implement a system of rotational lunchtime among the 46 students we have for these semester. This will definitely allow customers to get in and get the service they look for. We can form several teams and different break time for each team To insure everybody voice is considered, I propose that we set up a meeting between the school administration and all the students the last day of this month of October. I also propose that the team we formed are mixed woman and man of different age we want to create a work environment where everyone is happy.
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