Cost-volume analysis

Alternately, break-even analysis can be used as a make or buy and as a supplier comparison tool. Businesses need to determine whether or not to outsource manufacturing or other business processes based on production and facility capacity requirements. Break-even analysis can be useful in these decisions. In these types of scenarios, fixed and variable costs and expected production volumes are the focuses, not necessarily the price per unit. Break-even analysis is referred to as cost-volume analysis in such cases. 

Cost-volume analysis becomes useful when fixed and variable costs can be identified and there is a need to review costs based on production levels. The better option, make or buy, becomes apparent over a range of production requirements when using cost-volume analysis. 

Figure 6.5 Cost-volume analysis and make or buy decision.

Figure 6.6 Cost-volume analysis and nonlinear costs.

Finally, FIA is an attractive technique with respect to demands on time, cost, and equipment. When employed for automated analyses, FIA provides for very high sampling rates. Most analyses can be operated with sampling rates of 20-120 samples/h, but rates as high as 1700 samples/h have been realized. Because the volume of the flow injection manifold is small, typically less than 2 mb, consumption of reagents is substantially less than with conventional methods. This can lead to a significant decrease in the cost per analysis. Flow injection analysis requires additional equipment, beyond that used for similar conventional methods of analysis, which adds to the expense of the analysis. On the other hand, flow injection analyzers can be assembled from equipment already available in many laboratories. 

The computational methods have replaced the oversimplified models of material behavior formerly relied on. However, for new and very complex product structures that are being designed to significantly reduce the volume of materials used and in turn the product cost, computer analysis is conducted on prototypes already fabricated and undergoing testing. This computer approach can result in early and comprehensive analysis of the effects of conditions such as temperature, loading rate, environment, and material... 

Major advantages of LVI methods are higher sensitivity (compare the 100-1000 iL volume in LVI to the maximum injection volume of about 1 iL in conventional splitless or on-column injection), elimination of sample preparation steps (such as solvent evaporation) and use in hyphenated techniques (e.g. SPE-GC, LC-GC, GC-MS), which gives opportunities for greater automation, faster sample throughput, better data quality, improved quantitation, lower cost per analysis and fewer samples re-analysed. At-column is a very good reference technique for rapid LVI. Characteristics of LVI methods are summarised in Tables 4.19 and 4.20. Han-kemeier [100] has discussed automated sample preparation and LVI for GC with spectrometric detection. 

The process design principles of SLM, non-dispersive extraction, and hybrid hquid membrane systems need to be understood through bench scale experiments using feed solution of practical relevance. While the economic analysis of an ELM process can be performed from small scale experiments, such an analysis is difficult for other LM systems. In particular, availability and cost of hollow fiber membranes for commercial application are not known apriori. A simple rule of thumb for cost scale-up may not be apphcable in the case of an HE membrane. Yet we feel that the pilot plant tests would be adequate to make realistic cost benefit analysis of a liquid membrane process, since the volume of production in )8-lactam antibiotic industries is usually low. 

For the purpose of the cost-benefit analysis semi-variable costs are considered to be fixed costs. It is assumed that the reduction of the volume of one product will not lead to a reduction of the number of operators and/or lab personnel. 

Attempts could be made to systematically evaluate the social benefits of linking cost-effectiveness analysis not only with reference pricing, but government controls over industry-level profit and promotional expenditure, price-volume agreements, and competitive tendering. 

Sanchez, M., Leoro, G., and Archbold, E. (1991). Workload and cost-effectiveness analysis of a pooling method for HIV screening. VII International Conference on AIDS Abstract Book, volume 2, page 330. 

These are often multi-parameter analysers and enable several determinations to be carried out on the same sample furthermore, the number of determinations can be programmed for each individual sample. An aliquot of the sample is placed in a transparent measurement cuvette following addition of the reagents, a colorimetric measurement is then carried out directly on the cuvette. The analysis rate varies from 50 to 1000 determinations per hour, and the principal applications are carried out either by chemical or enzymatic analysis. The volumes of reagent required for sequential analysis are small by comparison with FTA which substantially reduces the cost per analysis, particularly for enzymatic determinations. 

W. C. Lawler, Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis in J. L. Livingstone and T. Grossman (eds.) The Portable MBA in Finance and Accounting, Wiley, New York, 2002, pp. 102-124... 

The use of MEMS technology in the health care arena leads to the developments of indispensable sophisticated intelligent devices. The miniaturization of these analytical devices is critical since it wiU enable the analysis of large number of drugs per sample and may be used directly with small biopsy s samples or small volumes of body fluids. This in turn leads to fast response time, sensitive and cost-effective analysis. 

The development of flow systems has contributed to a decrease in the volume of samples and reagents needed for a particular chemical analysis. This tendency was reinforced with the advent of micro-scale analytical methods relying on, e.g., electrophoresis and micro-total analysis systems (pTAS), which influenced the introduction of miniaturised flow systems. Miniaturisation achieves a significant reduction in sample and reagent consumption and allows the design of compact and portable systems. As a result, the generation of chemical waste and the cost of analysis are reduced, and the possibility for in situ or in vivo assays is increased. Thus, in recent years, several miniaturised flow systems have been proposed. 

Table 1 summarizes the capabilities of laser and ion microprobe analysis in comparison to the time-honored conventional techniques. Figure 1 shows the advantages and trade-offs involved in the newer techniques spatial resolution vs. accuracy and precision vs. cost of analysis. These factors will be discussed further under Microanalysis. Continuous flow mass-spectrometry (Merritt and Hayes 1994) IR-spectroscopy (Kerstel et al. 1999, Esler et al. 2000) large radius, multi-collector ion probes (McKeegan and Leshin, this volume) automation and shorter wavelength ElV lasers (Young et al. 1998, Farquhar and Rumble 1998, Fiebig et al. 1999, Jones et al. 

SPME (Solid-phase microextraction) has recently been developed as a rapid, inexpensive, and solvent-free technique. This technique uses a fine fused silica fiber with a polymeric coating to extract organic compounds from their matrix. The main advantages of SPME are simplicity, high sensitivity, small sample volume, and lower cost per analysis. SPME techniques can be successfully applied for polar and nonpolar compounds in gas, liquid, and solid samples and can be easily coupled with various analytical instruments such as GC, GC-MS, HPLC, and LC-MS [22, 56]. 

Portability, time of analysis and automation are important issues for environmental sensors. Collection and transportation of samples to the laboratory adds to the cost of analysis. Solutions to these issues have been addressed in this volume in Chapters 9, 17 and 18, that report developments of a screen printed disposable electrode for organophosphate pesticides, a compact self-standing immunosensor for bacteria, and spot assay for glucose, respectively. In a recent report development of an enzyme electrode for the remote monitoring, with a very fast response time, of organophosphate pesticides was reported (23). An automated prototype immunosensor... 

Further assessment should consider firewater volumes from worst-case credible scenarios. Implementation of additional measures should be considered by means of a cost-benefit analysis comparison versus the expected value of the consequences. Consideration of tertiary containment measures beyond basic good practice should be informed by an integrated risk assessment of the primary/secondary/tertiary controls as a whole. 

The pressured column chromatographic system is able to process automatically unattended samples in approximately 1 h. It reduces sample manipulation, the risks of human exposure, and the costs of analysis. The whole system is computer controlled and programmed as desired (e.g., volume, flow rates, direction of solvent flow, etc.). The previously filtered n-hexane extracts are loaded and pmnped through individual sets of multilayer silica column and transferred to a basic almnina colmnn. Next, the PCDD/ PCDF is eluted from the alumina column and transferred to the PX-21 carbon column. The interferences are eluted in the forward direction and the PCDD/PCDF is collected in the reverse direction from the carbon columns with toluene. 

The cost-benefit analysis including behavioural adaptation therefore included three types of benefit (1) accident reduction, (2) travel time saving, and (3) new trips in darkness. In the cost-benefit analysis not including behavioural adaptation, accident reduction was the only benefit. Figure 20.1 shows the estimated benefit-cost ratio of providing road lighting as a function of traffic volume in the two analyses. 

Jacobson, S.H., Kamani, T, Kobza, J.E. and Ritchie, L. (2006), A cost-benefit analysis of alternative device configurations for aviation-checked baggage security screening. Risk Analysis, Volume 26, Issue 2, pp. 297-310. 

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