Checklists profitability

An item of major importance to the preparation of an applications campaign is a complete and easily understood checklist for the collection of all the information that will ultimately be needed by both technical and market-research personnel at his home office. This form should include space for observations on the total size of the market, the share enjoyed by the company interviewed, and the probable influence of selling price of the new material within that market. Only when the interviewer brings back information from which the technical obstacles, market size, and potential profitability can all be judged realistically on a preliminary basis—only then can a commercial development manager make the necessary decisions on the future for his material. 

Table 15.11 presents data for the estimation of operating costs based on the above decomposition. The basis is the material and heat balance from flowsheeting, as well as the operating labour. This checklist can be used to compute the operating costs for profit and cash flow calculation. Note that the depreciation charge should be excluded, if it is accounted separately. 

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