Traditionally, the construction industry (compared to many other industries) has been slow at adopting new technologies. Why do you think this is the case? What can be done to change the trend?

a) With the aid of diagrams, describe the three characteristics of d.c. series motor.

(b) Briefly explain the difference between squirrel cage induction motor and wound rotor induction
motor in terms of construction.

You are the engineer who is responsible about renovation of your company headquarters. Two plans were proposed. Plan X involves remodeling the existing headquarters at a cost of $ 2.25 million. The expected useful life of the existing headquarters after remodeling is 25 years and the annual maintenance and operating (M&O) cost would be $126,000 per year. Plan Y involves building a new headquarters and selling the existing one with a net price of $750,000 three years from now. A total of 5 thousands square meter is required for the new headquarters. The cost of the land is estimated to be $366,000 per thousand square meters. The size of the building is 1 thousand square meter and the building will be 10 stories. The construction cost of the building is $150 per square meter and requires 5 years assuming 2 stories are built per year. In addition, the architect and contractor fees are expected to be $420,000. The expected useful life of the new headquarters is 50 years and the annual maintenance and operating (M&O) cost would be $116,000 per year. If the interest rate is i 13% per year, evaluate which plan is better on the basis of: (a) the present worth analysis, and (b) the conventional B/C analysis Case pls with explained procedure. Pa, Pc , PW for plan X , (Pa, Ps, PW, for plan Y) lastly A(C+O) , Delta B and delta B/C

thats what we are supose to answer???

Sydney Steelworks is engaged in a costing dispute with Public Works Canada. The company has a cost-plus contract to supply specialty steel that has no evident market price. The contract calls for Sydney to be reimbursed for its manufacturing costs plus 35%. An independent shipper hauls the steel from the Sydney plant to the various construction sites.

The variable cost of manufacturing the steel is $200 per ton, which is not in dispute. The issue concerns the allocation of fixed manufacturing costs to this product. The current annual fixed manufacturing cost at Sydney is $300,000,000. The plant is operating at 40% of practical capacity, which is measured in tons. Sydney computes the fixed manufacturing overhead rate by dividing the fixed manufacturing cost by the planned level of operations. This has resulted in charging this contract a rate of $120 per ton for fixed manufacturing costs.

Cost analysts at Public Works have objected, citing industry evidence that, on average, steel companies are using 70% of their practical capacity.

Required:

1. Compute the contract price per ton using Sydney’s approach.
2. Compute the contract price per ton if Sydney uses average industry capacity to compute the fixed manufacturing overhead rate.
3. If you were hired to arbitrate this dispute, how would you resolve it?
4. If you were a Public Works Canada auditor, what would you recommend based on this experience?

2. ABC Construction must replace a number of its concrete mixer trucks with new trucks. It has received two bids and has evaluated closely the performance characteristics of the various trucks. The truck A, which costs $84.000, is top-of-the-line equipment. The truck has a life of eight years, assuming that the engine is rebuilt in the fifth year. Maintenance costs of $2,500 a year are expected in the first four years, followed by total maintenance and rebuilding costs of $12,000 in the fifth year. During the last three years, maintenance costs are expected to be $4,000 a year. At the end of eight years, the truck will have an estimated scrap value of $10,000.

The trucks B cost $51,000 a truck. Maintenance costs for the truck will be higher. In the first year, they are expected to be S4,000, and this amount is expected to increase by $1,500 a year through the eighth year. In the fourth year, the engine will need to be rebuilt, and this will cost the company $18,000 in addition to maintenance costs in that year. At the end of eight years, the truck will have an estimated scrap value of $7,000.

a) Using MACRS (5-year property), estimate the after-tax cash flows related to the trucks? (Use Tax rate of 35%)

b) If ABC Construction's opportunity cost of funds is 10%, which truck should it accept?

c) If its opportunity cost were 15%, would your answer change?

d) At what opportunity cost will truck A and B be equal?

Using the data below, what percentage of data would you predict would be between 25 and 50 and what percentage would you predict would be more than 50 miles? Then determine the percentage of data points in the dataset that fall within each of these ranges. How do each of these compare with your prediction and why is there a difference?

Predicted percentage between 25 and 50 miles:

Actual percentage between 25 and 50 miles:

Predicted percentage of more than 50 miles:

The actual percentage of more than 50 miles:

Comparison:

Why?:

Drive

36

20

88

6

71

42

76

63

36

63

38

28

55

33

40

80

86

83

4

39

25

25

54

54

81

73

29

76

78

77

42

36

71

94

6

Let x be the average number of employees in a group health insurance plan, and let y be the average administrative cost as a percentage of claims.

(c) Use a calculator to verify that Σx = 128, Σx² = 6512, Σy = 152, Σy² = 4854, and Σxy = 3085. Compute r. (Round your answer to three decimal places.)
r = ???

Let x be the average number of employees in a group health insurance plan, and let y be the average administrative cost as a percentage of claims.

(c) Use a calculator to verify that Σx = 136, Σx² = 6924, Σy = 152, Σy² = 4870, and Σxy = 3284. Compute r. (Round your answer to three decimal places.)

r =

A new booster machine will cost $480,000. The anticipated increase in revenue will be $140,000/year for 5-years. Annual expenses will be $30,000/year for 5-years. The depreciable life is estimated to be 5-years and the salvage value will equal $35,000. Additional inventory necessary to run the machine will be $26,000. Initial training expenses are $20,000. Tax rate equals 40%.

 Find the NPV@10%.

 Find the IRR.

 Find the discounted payback and convert this into a percentage.

Newsome Inc. buys on terms of 4/10, net 45. It does not take the discount, and it generally pays after 55 days. What is the effective (not nominal) annual percentage cost of its non-free trade credit, based on a 365-day year? Enter your answer rounded to two decimal places. Do not enter % in the answer box. For example, if your answer is 0.12345 or 12.345% then enter as 12.35 in the answer box.