Reference no: EM132966868

Lightening Bulk Company is a moving company specializing in transporting large items worldwide. The firm has an 86% on-time delivery rate. Fourteen percent of the items are misplaced and the remaining 1% are lost in shipping. On average, the firm incurs an additional $66 per item to track down and deliver misplaced items. Lost items cost the firm about $310 per item. Last year, the firm shipped 6,010 items with an average freight bill of $210 per item shipped.

The firm's manager is considering investing in a new scheduling and tracking system costing $120,000 per year. The new system is expected to reduce misplaced items to 2% and lost items to 0.25%. Furthermore, the firm expects total sales to increase by 11% with the improved service. The average contribution margin ratio on any increased sales volume, after cost savings associated with a reduction in misplaced and lost items, is expected to be 38.5%.

Problem 1: Upon further investigation, the manager discovered that 81% of the misplaced or lost items either originated in or were delivered to the same country. What is the maximum amount the firm should spend to reduce the cost of problems in that country by 91%? (Round your intermediate calculations and final answer to the nearest whole dollar amount.)