Research Study Report Requirements
The final report must contain the following items.
· A transmittal letter or memorandum, as appropriate.
· Title page
· A Table of Contents that shows all the headings and subheadings contained in the body of the report and the co
ect page number where each heading and subheading appears in the text of the report.
· A List of Figures containing the figure number and title of each graphic insert with the co
ect page number.
· Page numbers on all pages except the transmittal lette
memorandum and the title page.
· All pages prior to the Introduction will be in Roman numerals. All other page numbers will be in Arabic numerals
· An executive summary.
· Headings and subheadings that match the Table of Contents.
· At least three quotations or attributions documented with in-text citations using one of the approved documentation style formats.
· At least two graphic insertions (table, chart, diagram, photo, etc.) that are relevant to the text. More than two graphics should be used if it helps convey your message to the reader.
· Criteria for evaluation of the solution(s) clearly described.
· The conclusion must include a realistic evaluation of your proposed project. The evaluation can be positive, negative, or somewhere between positive and negative. Do not force a conclusion to meet your preconceived notions. Your supervisors are relying on your unbiased professional judgment. If you force a conclusion that turns out to be wrong, your career could suffer.
· A Works Cited page or References page with at least three sources of information. At least one source should be an authored, published article from a business or professional journal, or an authored, published book.
· Some reports will require an appendix, or appendices. An appendix should be used to include background material which is important to the report but does not lend itself to inclusion in the main body. Examples of material to include in the appendices are completed questionnaires, material from equipment suppliers such as specifications and prices, detailed drawings or graphics, or computer printouts. Each Appendix will be designated by a letter, such as Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. and will ca
y a descriptive title. In addition, the title of each appendix will appear in the Table of Contents of the report.
The Works Cited page or Reference page tells the reader how, or where, to find the source, such as the book or journal. An in-text citation tells the reader from which source it came and on which page the information is found that is included in the citation.
Take particular care to adequately cite Internet sources in APA or MLA format. Just citing the home page of a large Internet site or just providing a link will not be considered adequate citation.
There is no maximum or minimum length requirement for this report.
MEMORANDUM
TO: XXXX, Manager
FROM: XXXX, Store Operations Assistant
DATE: November 2, 2014
SUBJECT: Completion report on the cost analysis of printing on both sides of a sheet
of paper
______________________________________________________________________
I have attached for your viewing a copy of my completed report of the cost analysis of
using a duplex printer at T-Mobile location, 11111 Southwest Freeway in XXXX, Texas.
This cost analysis involved doing research on the acquisition of either a new printer to
eplace the existing one or adding on a duplexing module to the existing one. Both
options are feasible but I think that replacing the printer is the better decision should we
choose to move on.
At this time, in order for the above mentioned solution to be affordable, this location
would need to print 225 pages a day on average for T-Mobile to recoup the cost of the
solution in a timely manner of a year and a half.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to do this cost analysis on this subject. I
hope that we can move forward and you and I can get this implemented as soon as
possible to begin saving money and wasting less.
Cost Analysis
Printing duplex pages instead of single pages at T-Mobile
Prepared for: XXXX, Store Manager
Prepared by: XXXX, Store Operations Assistant
November 2, 2014
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1
Research Methods………………………………………………………………………………2
1. Vendor options…………………………………………………………………………..2
2. Comparison of the two printers………………………………………………..………2
3. Possible problems………………………………………………………………………2
4. Preparing the financial statement……………………………………………..………2
5. Final findings…………………………………………………………………….………2
Results…………………………………………………………………………………… XXXXXXXXXX
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………..….7
Recommendation…………………………………………………………………………..…...8
Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………..….9
Appendix A: Observation of pages printed…………………………………………………10
List of figures
Figure 1: Printer Comparison………………………………………………………………….3
Figure 2: Detailed page consumption………………………………………………………..4
Figure 3: Cost per page and pages printed to
eakeven……………………………….…5
Figure 4: Breakeven point………………………………………………………………..……5
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Introduction
On September 13, 2014, I approached XXXX for permission to do a cost analysis on the
topic of using a duplexer printer at 11111 Southwest Freeway, XXXX, Texas in effort to
save the company money by not wasting paper. This is the report which will show the
information on whether or not it is a feasible option to move forward with and send
upward to the proper persons to implement this into our store and possible other
locations as well.
A duplexer is a device that attaches to a printer that allows both sides of the paper to be
printed on without having to reinsert the paper into the paper tray. My thought is that if
we can eliminate printing by half we can save the company money as well as reduce
our waste in the stores, and reduce our footprint in the store since we will be printing
half as many pages.
In the end, I did conclude that the solution of replacing our existing printer with a new
one is cu
ently a feasible option because of the future benefit after the
eakeven point
of a year and a half.
In the following sections I will provide all the information I used to make this decision.
2 | P a g e
Research Methods
1. I used our partner site Staples Advantage to determine the cost of a new printer,
and I used a non-partner website to locate a duplexer for our existing printer
ecause our partner site did not offer a solution for this matter.
2. I also did a side-by-side comparison based on the two printers as far as specs
and operating costs go.
3. I thought of some possible problems, and found solutions to those problems.
4. I prepared the financial statement using tables to illustrate the best options for
moving forward with the final decision.
5. I explained why I chose the option I ultimately chose for the final solution.
3 | P a g e
Results
This section will outline the results of my findings in accordance with my research.
1. Vendor options for the acquisition of parts.
I used two websites to determine the pricing of both the acquisition of the duplexer for
our existing printer and the purchase of a new printer. The duplexer needed for our
existing printer was not available through our partner site, Staples, so I located another
company that could provide us with one. A Matter of Fax would charge $426.26 for the
duplexer add on, (A Matter of Fax) and Staples would charge $749.99 for a new printer
that would suit our needs sufficiently. (Staples)
2. Comparison of the old printer to new printer.
In regards to the two printers both are comparable with one another as seen in figure 1
elow.
Figure 1
Printer Comparison
Printer
Pages
Per
Minute
(PPM)
Pages
of
paper
it
holds
Toner
cartridge
cost
Toner
cartridge
yield
Toner
cost per
page of
paper
printed
ased
on yield
HP 4000n 17 500 $ XXXXXXXXXX,000 $0.0184
HP
p3015dn 42 600 $ XXXXXXXXXX,500 $0.0182
The only big difference that stands out is the pages per minute (PPM). Beyond that, the
two are very similar although the new one holds a little more paper. In addition, for the
new option the toner cartridge does cost less to operate based on the toner cost per
page printed.
3. Possible problems.
There is always the potential for problems to arise when changing hardware. Luckily,
Hewlett Packard offers support for both printers with the operating systems we cu
ently
use. They also offer support on operating systems that are already out but are cu
ently
not in use at T-Mobile. T-Mobile also has a service agreement with Hewlett Packard, so
in the event of any problems we should have the problem fixed in a timely manner. I
also feel that it is best that we install the newer printer after we close so there is no
disruption to our customers as they come and go throughout the day. I have estimated
4 | P a g e
it would take just a couple of hours to install the solution in our store. This would give
us proper time to make sure everything is working properly on all seven of our
computers and will perform flawlessly the following morning. We would need to create
a ticket through the EIT helpdesk to get this scheduled to have someone come out and
install the new printer, and for that, the help desk only needs two days’ notice.
4. Preparing of the financial statements.
The following information is based on the store maintaining our average of 10
activations, 10 upgrades, 20 credit card bill payments a day and another 20 cash bill
payments per day. We also print around 20 pages a day for miscellaneous reports
needed throughout each day as well as our nightly closing reports. Using an average of
20 single sided pages used for activations with about half of those going to customers.
Also using the average of 12 single sided pages printed per