11 Aug Your team at Corellian Engineering has $1 billion to invest in new product development.

• Your team at Corellian Engineering has $1 billion to invest in new product development. This time, management has decided to invest in freighters with FTL Hyperdrives, so they have narrowed the selection down to two projects as described below. Your task is to calculate the Payback period and Rate of Return. Management will only accept a project if it has a payback period of fewer than 5 years AND the rate of return is at least 15%. This Excel file will help you with the calculations.

YT-1300

• This freighter can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, in the right hands. It has multiple sensor-proof cargo holds, dual phase cannons, and inertial dampeners to cushion the 3,000 Gs suffered from ludicrously fast speeds. The financials are as follows

Initial Investment: $700,000,000

Estimated Annual Sales: $225,000,000

VCX-100 light freighter

• This has sleeping quarters and perhaps even a kitchen. It is also outfitted with a magnetic cargo clamp on its ventral plating, capable of holding several bulk containers. The cargo bay and main entrance ramp of the VCX-100 is in the front of the freighter, making loading and unloading easier.

The financials are as follows:

Initial Investment: $400,000,000 Estimated Annual Sales: $110,000,000

• Industrial Automation of Corellia is interested in developing a new line of droids. However, with the Imperial Senate in disarray, IAC must make decisions as to which droid best suits its needs. They have asked you, as a newly minted project manager, to make the decision for them. You only have $100 billion to invest in these projects, so choose wisely.
• Below are the selection criteria for each project along with the scores for each criterion and the costs of each project.

R2-Series Astromech—This droid is an all-purpose unit that can be programmed to fill a variety of roles. They are approximately 3 feet high and weigh just under 1,500 pounds.

• Cost of development: $80 billion
• Potential ROI: 185%
• Customer Relations: 7
• New Products: 5
• Supplier Relations: 3
• Positive ROI: 4

2-1B Surgical Droid—Humanoid in appearance, all 2-1B series droids were equipped with encyclopedic memory banks. Their memory banks and modular limbs helped ensure that the droids gave the best course of medical treatment in any given medical situation.

• Cost of development: $95 billion
• Potential ROI: 85%
• Customer Relations: 6
• New Products: 10
• Supplier Relations: 5
• Positive ROI: 3

DTS-Series Dismantler Droid—Just as the name suggests, these droids can take apart just about anything. They are cheap and easy to assemble, so they can be built in great quantities. Additionally, they can be programmed to attack incoming vessels, so are useful in battle.

• Cost of development: $30 billion
• Potential ROI: 25%
• Customer Relations: 2
• New Products: 5
• Supplier Relations: 3
• Positive ROI: 2

GNK-Series Power Droid—Also known as Gonks, these droids are essentially walking batteries. Programmed in simple Binary, they are cheap and easy to repair, making them popular with everyone from moisture farmers on Tatooine to Tie Mechanics on space stations.

• Cost of development: $15 billion
• Potential ROI: 205%
• Customer Relations: 6
• New Products: 1
• Supplier Relations: 10
• Positive ROI: 10