The operations manager for a large law office must choose between two different copiers to lease. A regular copier, which costs $8 per hour to lease, can complete a copying job in 6 minutes, on averag

a) For a regular copier, assuming each employee spends an average of 6 minutes at the copier per copying job, and 56 jobs need to be completed in an 8-hour work day, the total time spent at the copier for all employees would be: 56 jobs/day x 6 minutes/job = 336 minutes/day In an 8 hour work day, there are 480 minutes, so the number of employees waiting on line or using the regular copier at any given time would be: 336 minutes/day ? 480 minutes/day = 0.7 or about 1 employee Therefore, the operations manager can expect an average of 1 employee to be at the regular copier, either waiting in line or actively using the machine. b) The total cost of leasing the regular copier for an 8-hour work day would be: $8/hour x 8 hours/day = $64/day In addition, if one employee is spending time at the copier for 336 minutes/day, or 5.6 hours/day, their time would have a value of: $10/hour x 5.6 hours/day = $56/day So the total cost of using the regular copier for an 8-hour work day, including the cost of the copier lease and the value of employee time, would be: $64/day + $56/day = $120/day c) For a high-speed copier, assuming each employee spends an average of 3 minutes at the copier per copying job, and 56 jobs need to be completed in an 8-hour work day, the total time spent at the copier for all employees would be: 56 jobs/day x 3 minutes/job = 168 minutes/day In an 8 hour work day, there are 480 minutes, so the number of employees waiting on line or using the high-speed copier at any given time would be: 168 minutes/day ? 480 minutes/day = 0.35 or about 0.5 employees Therefore, the operations manager can expect an average of 0.5 employees to be at the high-speed copier, either waiting in line or actively using the machine. d) The total cost of leasing the high-speed copier for an 8-hour work day would be: $16/hour x 8 hours/day = $128/day In addition, if 0.5 employees are spending time at the copier for 168 minutes/day, or 2.8 hours/day, their time would have a value of: $10/hour x 2.8 hours/day = $28/day So the total cost of using the high-speed copier for an 8-hour work day, including the cost of the copier lease and the value of employee time, would be: $128/day + $28/day = $156/day e) On the basis of the total hourly cost, the operations manager should choose the regular copier. Even though the high-speed copier is faster, it requires half an employee's time and costs more to lease. The regular copier, on the other hand, costs less to lease and requires only one employee's time. f) 1- The problem assumes that each copying job takes either 6 minutes or 3 minutes, on average, for the regular copier and the high-speed copier respectively. It is possible that some copying jobs may take longer or shorter than these averages, but the problem assumes these averages for simplicity. 2- The problem assumes that the number of employees needing to use the copier at any given time is based on the total time spent at the copier for all employees, divided by the length of the work day. This assumes that employee demand for copying jobs is roughly evenly distributed throughout the day and that all employees have the same need to use the copier. However, in reality, there may be peaks and valleys in demand, and some employees may use the copier more heavily than others.