Economic Feasibility Analyses 3527 



Dimensions: 4 feet x 8 feet x 0.5 inches 

 Density 15 pounds/cubic foot 

 Overlay: Grained film 

 Sales price: $0.20/square foot 



Thick structural panels can be offered in large sizes as well as the 4- by 8- 

 foot sheets usual for the industry. With product data as follows, panel insulating 

 and structural properties are well suited to simplified post and beam construction 

 of buildings: 



Dimensions: 4 feet x 8 feet x 4 inches 

 Core density: 12 pounds/cubic foot 

 Faces: '/4-inch strandboard (fig. 24-2) 

 Sales price: $1.00/square foot 



Some key daily single-shift statistics for a proposed plant to manufacture 

 these three products follow: 



Interior Thick 



decorative Structural 



Statistic Headliners panels panels 



Dollars! day 



Total materials cost 2,070 19,900 93,630 



Operating cost 1 ,650 1 ,650 1 ,650 



Total cost 3,720 21 ,550 95,280 



Sales revenue 5,760 23,040 1 15,000 



Return over costs 2,040 1 ,490 19,720 



To compute operating cost, exclusive of materials cost, it was assumed that the 

 plant machinery could be purchased and installed for $1 ,000,000, but that land 

 and buildings would be rented. The proposed plant is operated by seven men, 

 including the plant manager. 



28-15 $1.7 MILLION— MANUFACTURE OF PARQUET 



FLOORING'^ 



Hardwood parquet flooring (fig. 28-16) can be profitably manufactured to 

 serve a substantial market (see also sect. 22-3 and fig. 22-10). Made predomi- 

 nantly from low-grade oak lumber, it uses clear pieces as short as 6 inches long. 

 The highly mechanized process crosscuts, planes, and rips boards automatically 

 into strips, called fingers, less than an inch wide by 5/16-inch thick. After the 

 fingers are graded, they are assembled semi-automatically into the normal mosa- 

 ic pattern and bonded together with a backing material. A plant (fig. 28-17) 

 employing 36 people with one line operating two shifts daily can be expected to 

 earn a return on investment before taxes of better than 30 percent. Key statistics 

 for the proposed enterprise are as follows: 



17 



Abstracted from Martens and Hansen (1981). 



