matty dread Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 I have this question I'm having a problem with. My professor is giving me an answer but I have no clue how he's getting it. He's horrible at explaining things so I've given up trying to figure out his rationale. Here's the problem, let me know what you think. The Largo Publishing House uses 400 printers and 200 printing presses to produce books. A printer's wage rate is $20, and the price of a printing press is $5000. The last printer added 20 books to total output, while the last press added 1000 books to total output. Is the publishing house making the optimal input choice? Why or why not? If not, how should the manager of Largo Publishing House adjust input usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearrock Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Maybe you should include your professor's answer so people can be sure that they are not giving unauthorized help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty dread Posted June 8, 2005 Author Share Posted June 8, 2005 I didn't want to sway anyone, but here's my answer Wage/rate 20/20 for the printers = 1 5000/1000 for the presses = 5 My professor and I agree about the 20/20. However, for the presses he says 50/100 = .5 I have no freakin clue where he's getting 50/100 for the presses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Originally posted by matty dread Is the publishing house making the optimal input choice? Why or why not? If not, how should the manager of Largo Publishing House adjust input usage. No. The correct answer is outsource the publishing industry to China or Mexico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 It's been a while, but I think your professor is on crack. MC/MB: for printers, $20/20 books; for presses, $5000/1000 books. As far as I know, the dude should definitely hire more printers. Unless I'm missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty dread Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 I don't know what he's talking about either, I'm gonna go with my answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panel Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 I think this is a question of fixed and verable costs. The Person gets payed per hour, and every hour produces 20 books. The Machine is a one time perchuse, so it isn't costing you $5000, per hour, it cost you $5000, one time. So to come up with you professors number, you need to know how long the work day is (how many hours per day the machines will be running), and to veriy that the machine creates 1000 extra copies per hour (the same unit of production as the printer is being compared to, or some other unit of measure) I would need more information from the problem to get the numbers to match up, but just think of it this way... You have to pay the worker $20 for every hour of work, you only pay for a machine once, so in the long run, it is better. If it makes it easier you could think of it as $5000/1000 books FOR THE FIRST HOUR, but then ofter that $5000 is payed off it is $0/1000 for the rest of the life of the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Originally posted by panel I think this is a question of fixed and verable costs. :doh: You are so right! I had assumed that the workers were producing 20 books more per hour and the machine was producing 1000 books more total. That's the only way I can see having enough information to do the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty dread Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Thanks for the help guys. It makes sense that the machine is a one time purchase. It definitely feels like I need more info to answer it. I'm guessing that my professor is making some assumptions that he's not explaining to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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