Mcdonald robot used for food preparation

Assignment Help Financial Management

Reference no: EM132061386

What would the payback period be for a robotic arm used by McDonald's for food preparation?

A variety of robots were featured at the 2016 National Restaurant Show that could be used for a variety of tasks in restaurants. These robots are being introduced at the same time that we are experiencing an on-going debate in the U.S. about the merits of a national minimum wage of $15 per hour for every worker. A former McDonald’s USA CEO, Ed Rensi, recently said that purchasing a $35,000 robotic arm would be cheaper than paying fast food workers $15 per hour for food preparation tasks like bagging French fries.

For this hypothetical example, let’s make the following assumptions:

For the cost of the hourly workers, use a total wage rate of $18 per hour to reflect payroll taxes (payroll taxes can add 15% or more to the hourly wage rate.)

Assume that freight and installation for the robot’s initial placement in a McDonald’s restaurant will be a one-time cost of $5,000.

The robot will require periodic service. Assume an annual service contract is required that costs 10% of the original cost plus installation of the robot per year.

Assume that the robot will replace 10 employee hours per day, 360 days per year (the robot will not, at least initially, be as versatile as a person and cannot fully eliminate all food prep workers at this point.)

Electricity and supplies consumed by the robot will be assumed to be $1,500 per year.

Questions

What would the payback period be on a McDonald’s robot used for food preparation?

What qualitative factors would McDonald’s need to consider when deciding whether to purchase robots to replace some of its food preparation workers?

Given the payback period, would net present value (NPV) or internal rate of return (IRR) be likely to be useful tools for analyzing this decision? Support your response

Reference no: EM132061386

Questions Cloud

Raising money-the government uses the tax system : In addition to raising money, the government uses the tax system to. Which of the following is not a financial market?

The merits and limitations of the discounted cash flow : Critically discuss the merits and limitations of the Discounted Cash Flow, Dividend Discount and Residual Income valuation models,

Bias in the accounting data reported by companies : Provide a critical overview of the three potential sources of noise and bias in the accounting data reported by companies,

Ecoshop stock using the fcff valuation model : Compute the fundamental value of EcoShop’s stock using the FCFF valuation model.

Mcdonald robot used for food preparation : What would the payback period be on a McDonald’s robot used for food preparation?

Concept of earning quality within context of equity research : Explain the concept of earnings quality within the context of equity research.

Role of non-financial–intellectual capital information : Discuss the role of non-financial information – intellectual capital information – in analysts’ forecasts, valuation and investment recommendation decisions

Evaluate the role of intellectual capital information : Evaluate the role of Intellectual Capital information in the process of sell-side analysts’ determination of earnings forecasts,

Best option by applying present value techniques : Assess which of these is the best option by applying present value techniques.

User Account

All Pages