: Staples

Learning Goal: I’m working on a mathematics question and need guidance to help me learn.

Kayla Serena is the manager at Staples in Toronto. Staples has an outstanding reputation for customer service, with prompt delivery of orders and always being able to meet customer demands with stocked items. To accomplish this high level of customer service, Staples must stock a large volume of items on a daily basis at a central warehouse and at their three retail stores across the city. Kayla maintains these inventory levels by borrowing cash on a daily basis from TD Bank. She estimates that for the coming fiscal year, the company’s demand for cash to pay for inventory will be $17,000 per day for 305 working days. Any money she borrows during the year must be repaid with interest of 9% by the end of the year. Any time Kayla takes out a loan t purchase inventory the bank charges the company an origination fee of $1,200 plus a 2.25% commission on the amount borrowed. Kayla often uses EOQ analysis to determine optimal amounts of inventory to order for different office supplies. Now she is wondering if she can use the same type of analysis to determine an optimal borrowing policy. Determine the amount of the loan Kayla should secure from TD, the total annual cost of the company’s borrowing policy, and the number of loans the company should obtain during the year. Also determine the level of cash on hand at which the company should apply for a new loan, given that it takes 15 days for a loan to be processed by the bank. Suppose the bank offers Kayla a commission discount (from 2.25% to 2.0%) on any loan amount eval to or greater that $500,000. What would Staple’s optimal loan amount be?