an evaluation of past company decisions on equipment replacement

19
This article was downloaded by: [Columbia University] On: 08 December 2014, At: 03:28 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Engineering Economist: A Journal Devoted to the Problems of Capital Investment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/utee20 An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement Stephen T. Heinaman a a Armstrong Cork Company Published online: 13 Sep 2010. To cite this article: Stephen T. Heinaman (1956) An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement, The Engineering Economist: A Journal Devoted to the Problems of Capital Investment, 2:2, 1-18, DOI: 10.1080/0013791X.1956.10131780 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013791X.1956.10131780 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

This article was downloaded by: [Columbia University]On: 08 December 2014, At: 03:28Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: MortimerHouse, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

The Engineering Economist: A Journal Devoted tothe Problems of Capital InvestmentPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/utee20

An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions onEquipment ReplacementStephen T. Heinaman aa Armstrong Cork CompanyPublished online: 13 Sep 2010.

To cite this article: Stephen T. Heinaman (1956) An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on EquipmentReplacement, The Engineering Economist: A Journal Devoted to the Problems of Capital Investment, 2:2, 1-18, DOI:10.1080/0013791X.1956.10131780

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013791X.1956.10131780

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose ofthe Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be reliedupon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shallnot be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and otherliabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

AN EVALUATION OF PAST COMPANY DECISIONS ON EQUIPMENT REPIACEMENT

by

Stephen T.. Heinaman~- - .

Armst z'ong Co:!'k Company

When I first considered writing a paper on this subject!) I thought that

an illustration of the ca l culati ons we make when we 6"i?al uate pas t c ompany de cisions

of equipment replacement would be e f f '8,;ti'J'l;;l o As I thought through the implementa~

tion of this approach, it be came appar ent to me t :b.a t the why of what we do i s of

infinitely greater significance than how we make t he mathemat i cal calculati ons o

Therefore" I decided that the be st; approach was t o give a comprehensive picture of

our capital appropriations requ es t eval uat ion procedures o

My thesis is that an eval ua t i on of pa.st company decisi ons for equipment

replacement can be most effective as a par t of a sys tem for evaluating all capital

appropriation requests, before and a f t er they are gr a nt ed , in a company which accepts

"return on investmentQl as t he basis f oZ" maas UZ'ing oper ating management performance"

To restate this for emphasis, be cause i t i s the basis of my presentat ion this after~

noon" an evaluation of past c ompany decisi ons for equipment replacement can be most

valuable to a company whe n s

I e I t fo l lows a n evaLuat.Lon made pr i or t o t he decisiont o a ppropri ate the speci fic f unds involved .,

2 e The eval uati ons a re madE! o~'!. a. basi s whi ch is directlyrelated to r out ine lirst,urn on inves t ment iQ reports usedas the bas i s f or measur i ng the pa r-f'or'mance ofoperat:ingmanager s e

30 No appropr iat ion 1"18'=111.6 8 ";:'8 (Jan escape eva l uation"

40 Management bases appY'op:riation decisions on the resultsof the eval uat i ons mads (I

My argument consist s ent.i:t'(f,1:'.r cf a des ::;r iption of t he system dev-eloped on

the basis of this t hesis f or t he A!'!f1'3~j1'orJ.g Co:rk Company, The system de s cribed ha s

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proven most effective in actual practiceo

Our system for evaluating capital appropriation requests does" quite

naturally, fulfill all of the requf.remerrbs of my thesis 0 All such requests are

evaluated before and after appropriation requests have been grantedo Management

does base its decisions on the results of the evaluations made, and our capital

appropriation request evaluation procedures are directly related to our regular

reporting of operating results since they are made on the same basis -- Return. on

Capital Employed, or as we say it,S)ROCEo

As we use .t he term, Retlli':~n on Capital Employed, despite its perhaps eso­

teric connotations, is nothing more than the ratio of net profit after tax to total

book assets G In the .iArmst r ong Cork Company; ROCE is accepted as the basis for

measuring operating management performance 0 The success or failure of all of our

individual and collective efforts to improve operations is reflected in our RCCE

results 0

Quite a bit of attention has been directed to 11return on investment" and

its many variations in the recent past so that the chances are that you know all

about ito However, since it is the basis of our approach to capital appropriation

eva'luatd.on, I will risk boring you a bit with a few ROCE fundamentals as we apply

the concepto

Exhibit 1 illustrates the simpl icit,y of the concepb s ROCE:: Net Profit

After Tax divided by Av'erage Capital Emp'Loyed , Capital employed is _our total

assets as they appear on our ba lance sheet., Our basic measurement of operating

management performance, therefore,? i s not merely the amount of net profit we earn,

nor the amount of net sales achtieved, ncr the ratio of profit to sales (> ROCE re­

tains these measurements but puts a base under them = the dollars of assets required

to achieve the sales and profits.. The effect:, of adding this base can be seen in

the formulas shown on Exhibi t 1 6 Profi t, sales and capital employed ar~ _all part

of the formuJationo We can and do state ouz- ROCE concept, as ROCE ;: %Profit on

Sales X Capital 'I'urnovez-, In the illustrati on $15,0000000 profit divided by

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$300g000,OOO of sal es equals 5% pr of it on sa l es . $300 ~ OOO ,000 of sales divided

by $150,000,000 of capi tal employed equals a capi t a l turnover of 2. ROCE then, is

5% X 2 or 10%0 If you prefer~ ROCE :: Net Profi t After Tax of $15~000~000 i ··Average Capital Employe~of $15? ~ OO?~000 or 10%0

The figures on t he l ower portion of Exhibi t 1 are shown to illustrate

the all~inclusive na t ure of our ROCE concept . The e~fec~ of sales Ls , of course

included~ all costs are also included ~ a nd , all assets are i ncl uded regardless of

the sources of funds used t o obtain t he m. Therefore, all aspects of operations are

included. However , the ef fect of va r ious means and results of financing are pur-

pasely excluded" We us e ROCE as the basis for measuring operating management per-

formance o

Ther e is some addi tional general ba ckground i nf or mat i on necessary to the

understanding of our capi tal appropr i a t ion request procedures -how our ROCE concept

is fitted to our internal mana gement organization.

Our int er na l ROCE concept is des i gned around our Division General Manager s .

These men are r espons i ble f or t he pr oduct ion and sale of all products within the

major market areas as s i gned t o themo .!All matters related to financing are r es erved

to a s t a f f vi ce=pres ident o The de termination of -m. at shall be financed i s reserved,

depending upon the amounts Lnvo'lved , t o the Execut ive Conunittee of our Board of

Directors or to t he Board i t sel f o

In practi~a 9 t he Boar d of Di r e(;tors and its Execut i ve Commi ttee control

''Wha t shall be financed~v almost ent i r el y through our system of capi~al appropri<:l,­

tion requests. If we look at t he l ower right corner of Exhibit 1 we can see how

the control of capi tal expenditures a l one effects .basic level cont r ol s over al~ of

the capital employed by our Di vis ion Gener a l Mana gers except cash. Our Division

Manage rs have no direct respons ibil i ty f or t he l evel of cash. We assign cash to

them on the basi s of an arbi t rary percentage of t ota l cost of sales.

The gene ral l eve l of ac~ourrts r e©eivabls, inventor i es , and other assets

required by thei r operat ions i s det ermined bas i cally by the types of businesses in

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Page 5: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

which t hey cperabe , Si nce we a r e primaril y a manufactur ing company, the types of

businesses we operate are es tabl i shed b;y the plants~ PI'0p~rty and equipment we buy.

Since t he Board of Director s and i ts Execut i ve Commit t ee control capital expendi-

tures~ t hey control t he bus i nesses we oper ate and ~ consequently,? the basi c levels

of a ccounts recei-vable ~ inventories ~ and other assets we employ._. . _.

The Di vision General Mana gers are responsible fo r u t i lizi ng the capital

whi ch t hey are gi ven by the Board t o obtain the best possible return on ito

FurthermoreJ) and t his is i mpor t ant $) the line men are r es pons i bl e for reconnnending

oppor-tuni,t ies for t he employment of a ddi t ional capi t al t o improve or expand exist~

i ng businesses and t o enter new bus ines ses 0 The Di vision Managers , therefore .l'

occupy 1my pos itions i n our company 0 The principal fun ction of our staff depart-

ments i s t o help t he l i ne men t o f ulfi ll the i r r es pons i b i lities. The line ment e

responsibi l i t i es a re t o obtain hi ghol" r et urns on more capi t a l » or~ in other words ,?

t o obtain super ior per f ormance a s measured by ROCE~ coupled with growth in and in-

t o businesses having high ROCE potent ial s u

So much for gener a l ba ckgrouni i nf or mat i on . Our procedures for review-

i ng capital appropr iat ion request s are designe d specifical ly t o fit the needs of

our organizat ion at t he present t i m® 0 They are designed pr imar ily to help line

management men t o f ulf i ll thei r res pons ibiliti e s by pointing up t he probable effect

of specifi c pot ent ial capit a l expendi t ures on t heir operating r es ults as expressed

in EDCE.. Empha s i s is placed on a ccura cy of per spect i ve rat~er t han of de tailo

Our capi tal appr opr i a t i on r eque s<:(, pr ocedur es ar e des i gned not to el iminate t he

necess i t y f or judgment~ but r a t her t o provi de a s ound bas i s f or t he application

of j udgment by all l evels of' managemenb, from t he bo ttom t o t he t OPll i n order t o

di s cover t he best of many pot ent i a l expenditures rath.~ t ha n to provide the f igur e

which makes aP:er oval ox." di s appr oval of a reques t mandat.or'y, The figur~s we de­

velop aJrt~ relati ve ,\) not a b so 'ltrbe , The pr :b 20ipal u.s e ful nes s of our sys tem can

never be measured be cause it cons i sts of elimir~ting f rom considerat ion project s

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of doubtful or low ROCE potential before much expensive technical and management

effort is expended upon them"

In order to provide a sound basis for relative judgment, 'We highlight

important factors and key assumptions made, as well as the estimated results in-

dicated by our caLcul.atd.ons , The key factors and assumptions pointed up by our

procedures can be seen on Exhibit 2 which is the fa.cing sheet for a capital appro-

priation r-equeat , I never have found out why we call it an "M" request. All I

know is that an "w' request must be used for capital and maintenance jobs of $1,000

or more , and I canrt think of a shorter name for ito

The firs t important factor to be found on this request is the "Reason

for Request" e Ire have two categories of reasons for capital requests as shown on

Exhibit 3. Category I - Expenditures which are required to maintain ROCE on exist-.- - -

ing operations J and Category II = Expenditures which 'Wi 11 improve ROCE for the com-

pany, Company policy is to hold expenditures for Category I projects to a minimum,

and to maximize ROCE improvement with Category II expenditures. Therefore, when we

find Rebuilding or Replacement, or General Plant Improvement, or Safety, Health,

and1forking Conditions given as the QIReason for Request" we can be certain that no

significant IDOO advantage will be achieved through approval of the request. If

any sizeable savings were involved, the "Reas on for Request" would be "Cost Reduc-

Requests presented for Category I projects require policy and qualita-

tive decisions rather than specific quantitative calculations" The principal de-

cisions are whether or not we should continue in the business, and if or when we

need to spend the money requested to continue in the busdneas ,

The facts upon which these j u.dgments are based are obtained from our- -

roui~!~ ROCE report ing and f rom the written explanation W1 ich is a part of the re­

quest 0 Although such requests sometimes generate special studies relative to stay­

ing in the business,Sl there is no formal r equi r ement for mathematical evaluation of

• Gategory I requests.

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Page 7: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

Category II requests are 8"'ir2.1u.ated foY'mallyo Looking at Exhibit 2 again,

we find a block for data to be i nsert ed by the Di vision Controllero These are the

data which are provided to management t o s ey'Ve as the basis for their selection for

approval of capital liMlI r equests desi gned to improve ROCEo The data in this block

have a wide readership s ince a l l capit al requests for $2,000 or more are circulated

through line management and to al l membe r s of the Executive Oomnrrttee before they

are formally presented fo r approval o

The information i n t he da ta bl ock indicates three separate things o

(1) Risk of Loss of t he Cash Expenditure Requested

An indication of t he risk of loss of the cash expenditurerequested is obtained by comparing the "Estimated EfficientProductive Per-i.od" with the liEstimated Period for Recoveryof Costo ll If the _Estinated Efficient Productive Periodd6esnot exceed the Estimat.ed Period for Recovery of Cost thereis a dist i.nct possibilj_ty thai:. at least some of the cash tobe i nvested would be 1osto

(2) Estimated Return on Average Total Added Capital Employedon an Operating Basis

The "Estimated Return on Average Total Added Capital Employed"as shown on the "Mil Request Form indicates the ratio of (1) ~

the ave rage added profit afte::..~ tax on an operating basis . to (2)the additional capi t al employed resulting from the requested .expenditures 0 The added capi t al employed includes all compon­ents such as cash, receivables, Lnvent.or'Les , property, plantand equipment, and miscellaneous assetso The amount estimatedfor each component is the average to be employed during theestimated effi cient productive period 8

The ca l culation of -the average added profit after tax used inthis ratio does not i nclude char ges for expense resulting fromcapi t a l expendi tur es or obs ol e s cence taken since these are con­sidered as start~up c osts o

(3) Star-:t,=Up Costs

The aster i sked not e ulBef or e Charge for Expense and Obsolescenceof$ After Tax in Fi rst Year 11 indicates the amount ofthes® t wo i tems of s tar-b-up costs .after tax which would be in­curred i f t he r equ es"c, wer e grarrted,

This amount i s us ed toget he r wi th the amount of "EstimatedAverage Added Profit After Taxi! shawn immediately above it toobtai n an indi ca·t i m.')', of t he effect of these ' costs on theiiEstimated Retur n on Average Total Added Capital Employed~1 ona,n operating basi so For example s

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Page 8: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

(a) The es t inated r eturn on average t otal added capitalemployed on an operating basis i s indicated to be3608%0

(b) The est inated average added prof it after tax is in­dicated t o be $25, 000 per year.

(c) The charge for expense and ~bs oles cence after tax isi ndi cated t o be $l O, OOO e

The expense-and obsol es cence charge of $10,?000 after taxis equivalent t o two- fifths of the estimated average addedprofit after t ax per year o Therefore, the estimated returnon average t otal added capi t a l employed would be reduced to22~1% for the equi~alent, of one yearo

All of the data i ns ert ed by the '])i 'n s ion Controller in the data block on

the face of the "MIGRequest are obtained :trom an "Estimate Sheet" attached to the

'i},[l' Requests Exhibi t 4 shows this form which cont a i ns a summary of the calculations

supporting the data block figureso

You will note that we base our eva lua t ions on a standard reporting unit

such as a specifi c commodity,? group of ceoImlodit i e s ,? or plant. This approach gives

us a direct tie~in between our appropr iat ion r equest evaluations and our regular

ROCE reporting to managemerrt , When an app~CJpriation request has been granted, the

estimted cha nges in ROCE s houl d show u p ::111 our regular ?pera~ing reports. There­

fo re,? our reguJ.a.r r out i ne analyses of ROGE r esul t s disclose to line managers the

results of speci fi c capi t a l expendf.t uz'e s on ROCE both as to amount and as to timing

on a continuing infornal basis.

Lines (1) and (2) of t he est i rrate sheet a re self-explanatoryo Line (3)

"Estimated Effi cient Product i ve Peri oduu r equires explanationo The "Estimated Effi-

cterrb Product ive Per-i.od" is the period of t i me during which the assumed conditions

necessary to t he increased ear nings a~~ expected t o exist o This estimate is re-

quired of line managers t o i ndi cate t he i r thinking as to t he possibility of 00001-

es cence of the pr cdu cte , pr oceseee, or equipment i nvolved,9 and to add a UVl engt h of

t i meU f a ctor to t he for ecas t s of sales v'Dil umes and cost/pr i ce relationships on

which the eval ua t ions are based , The es tima t e is expressed as a specific number of

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Page 9: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

years if it is less than five years , If the IIEstimated E:fficient Productive

Period", or E.E.PoPo", is five years or more" this is indicated by a check mark in

the 19 5 or More Years Ui bl.ock,

The upper part of the foI'm,\l l ines (4) through (21) are used to spell out

the specific ar'&asof costs affected when cos t reduction is claimed ~l1 any capital

"Mil request involving an expenditure of $2$)000 or more , Only those operating cost

factors affected are considered in this calculat i on .. In the example shown en

Exhibit 4,\l the estimated "Total Costs Affected", l ine (14) of producing l,\lOOO~OOO

pieces of Commodity IIA" per year dll.ring the next five years is shown to be $700,000

with the present Flim mixers as compared with $650,000 with the proposed Flam mix""

ers , The difference, the IIA,verage Added Profit Before 'lax" of $50~000 shown on line

(1.5) is reduced by income tax to $25,\1000 on line (16) 0

For capital "WI r equest s involving expenditures of $2,,000 to $9,\l999,? the

only evaluation figure required is the gl Per i od for Recovery of Cost" 0 As sham on.

the form,\l t his is obtained by dividing the llTotal Funds RequestedU, line (1) by the

sum of the "Average Added Profit After 'I'ax"!) line (16),\l and the "Depreciation Dif­

erence 81 between the present and proposed facilities, line (17) 0 In the example

shown the "Per-Led for Recovery of Cost ",\l line (19).9 is 3 ..3 years 0 This indicates

that it would take 303 years to recover the cash required by thE;l expenditure if the

request were grarrbed, "Period f or Rec ovar y of Costll i s an indication of risk in

that no return will be earned if t he original cos t is not recover-ed; In our dynamic

economy» technological progress i s at such a rapid rate that obsolescence of pro-

ducbs , processes and equipment is a dist inc:t possibilityo The longer the time.\) the

grea'ter the risk of obso'Lescence , Our nt]];st i mat ed Efficient Productive Period"

estimate represents the thinking of l i ne management as to the possibility of such

changes 0 As noted before we shaw both Recover y Period and Eo~oPoPo on the face of

the "WI request 4)

For all cat egor y II capital "MIl Requests involving expenditures of

$lOllOOO or more lines (20) t hrough (39) -are us ed to determine the "Return on• ~_~ ~ ~_~__ H ~ __ ~ _m _

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Average Total Added Capital EmployedU0 Lines (20) through (27) comprise a com­

plete simplified profit and loss statement.. In the example shown the "Average

Added Profit After Tax"!J line (28) is $25J}000,:> the same as on line (16) above ,

The repe"tition of this figure is the r esult of' showing in profit and loss state­

ment f orm how the anticipated cost redu ction would look in the routine operating

reports managers use in the normal cours e of their business ,

Lines (32) through (37) indicate the estimated composition of capital

employed during the test period 'Wi. th both present and. proposed facilitieso It

should be noted that we are dealing wi th average capital empLoyed , Therefore,? in

our example.') "Property" Plant and Equipment 1i .? line (5) is not increased by the full

amount of the capital expenditure of $100.:>0000 We have assumed a life of ten years

on the proposed mixers and a remaining l ife of five years on the present ones ,

ThereforeJ} the average net book value of the proposed mixers during the next five

years would be $75,9000 0 The average net book value of the old mixers would be

$5$000 $ one-half of the obsoles cence shown on l i ne (2)0 The difference of $70pOOO

would be t he increase in average ca pital employed in Property.'> Plant, and Equip-

"Return on Average Total Capital EmployedlU on an operating basis is cal­

culated for both the present facilit ies and the proposed facilities and shown on

line (8) 0 These figures s erve to r aise t he question of whether or not we should

consider getting out of the business rather than to try to improve ito If we plan

to stay in a business through the tes t period,? then.') regardless of how lew the ROCE

is for the busfness , the "Return on Average Total Added Capital Empl?yedU on line

(39) is the ROCE figure which should be used as the basis for top managementts de ...

cisions as to which of the many appropr iation requests presented to them should be

granted 0 In our example, this key f igure i s 360 8%0

One other important factor should be nobed, The sales units and dollars

forecast for the current year are shown to point up the relationship between .cur­

rent operations and the volumes and pri ces projected for the EoEoP.Po per-Lods In

b

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our example, the evaluation figures are based on an estimated increase in sales

volume of 25%0

All of these calculations are based on information available from our

routine ROCE reporting system plus estimates expressed in routine reporting termso

T~e calculations for requests of $10,000 or more are summarized in routine ROCE re­

porting form. They are made primarily for the men responsible for operating results

through the joint efforts of division line and staff men assisted by top staff

specialists e The Division Contr oller for the division involved is responsible for

the coordination of all of these efforts, and for the direction of these efforts

toward accuracy of perspective rather t han of detail G The end result is a sound

and easily understood basis for division recommendations, and for top-management

selections, of those capital appropriat ion requests which have the greatest possi-

bility of improving ROOE for the company,

The pretesting procedures are by far the most valuable part of our capi-

tal appropriation request eval uating syetem, However, if we did not provide for

follow""'Up of the pre'test.Lng , it is possible that pretesting might» over a period of

years, become increasingly distorted by either over optimistic or super safe assump-

tionse We do follow...up our pretesting, informally, as already mentioned, in our

routine analyses of operating 'r esul t s whi ch are expressed as ROiCE, and formally.9 in

the form of annual reviews of capital appropriations of $10.9000 or moree

These annual reviews are set up in three parts as follows g

10 Status reports on unproven Category I appropriations20 Status reports on unproven Category II appropriations30 Completed and tested reports on Category II appropriations

The status reports on unproven Category I and Category II appropriations

are made on similar f'orms , An indication of t he form of status report for Category

II appropriations is shown as Exhibi t 50

The information shown on this report includes the date of original

approva13 description, actual expenditures t o date together with the amount origi­

nally appr'ovedj; original estimated c ompl etion dabe j a brief statement to indicate

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Page 12: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

the status and prospe cts f or t he proj s C't ,9 the number of months in operation; and

the original Eist irrate and i nd.i,ca t ed t o dat e recovery per-Lod, The only difference

between the forms for rcategor y I I and ca tegory I requests is that the recovery

period data are omitted on Category I repo~ts since t he recovery _period is not

usually calcul at ed for such r equests " The s tat us r-epor-ts for each category for

each year Lne.lude all a ppropr iat io)!1JJ:) granted up to June 30 of that year which have

not been compl e t ed and t ested l ong enough to satisfy management of the success or

failure of the appropriation0

On the CategoI7 II st a tus repor~s ~ the indicated recovery period is

shown to give an indi cation of the eval ua t ion of the project.. Recovery period was

selected as the indicator of actual resul ts on this report since its calculation in­

volves the total of capital and expense expenditures as well as the added profit

realized~ and , more important ly,? because i ,t is t.he best indicator of probable suc­

cess or failure of a proje l!3t in an interim repor-t , If the total experrliture will

probably not be r-eeover-ed, it i s of little importance to know the indicated operat­

ing rate of RaCE which is not suffi cient t o r-ecover' i t,o

The calculations of "I ndicat ed Recovery Per-Lod" are made under the

direction of the ~ivision Cont roller.. On equipment replacement for cost reductionp

for examp'Ie , they consist, of detE9rmining the diff eJ:"ence be tween the actual costs

incurred and an estimate of what; t he coebs would have been if the .capital expenda-­

ture had not been made , Since this i nvolyes es tdmabes , the emphasis is again

placed on accuracy of perspectdve r ather t han of detail Q

The completed and tested repoz-ts ox. Cat egory II appropriations include

all appropriations r emoved from the s t atus reports o Exhibit 6 shows the form of

these reports 0 They show t he o~iginal est imates t ogether with actual results as

to total expendi tures,? complet i on date~ r ecovery per iodp average annual operating

return on added capd.ba'l, emp'l.oyed ] annual average operating savings after tax$ and

fi rst yea!!! expense and obs o'Ieecenee a fter t ax 0

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Page 13: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

-12"",

All of these annual review reports are prepared under the direction of

the Division Controllers. They are issued to the Division Manager" the President's

Office, and to the Chief Engineer just before the capital appropriations budget for

the following year is prepared; The status reports are designed primarily to en-

able division managers and top management to obtain a quick review of the status

and prospects of all unproven appropriation requests of $10,000 or more once a year,

just before the capital appropriation budget is drawn up for the following year.

The completed and tested Category II reports are primarily historical reports. They

are valuable in that their very existence serves to encourage objectivity in "M"

Request preparation, and the y also provide the basis for improving our capital

appropriations evaluation procedureso

It would be misleading to stop here, at the "end" of our capital appro-

priation evaluation system without repeating that this system is but one factor"

albeit a most important one, serving to help division managers to obtain superior

performance as measured by RaCEs coupled with growth in and into businesses having

high ROCE potentialso

My thesis is that an evaluation of past company decisions for equipment.

replacement. can be most effective if it is a part of a system for evaluating all

capital appropriation requests, before and after they are granted" in a company

whi ch accepts -return on Lnves'bmerrb" as the basis for measuring operating managa-

ment performance. My argument. is the system used by the Armstrong Cork Company,

which is most effective.

Presented before the Engineering Econo~

Committee at the Annual Meet i ng of theAmerican Society for Engineering Educationat Ames, Iowa, June 25, 1956.

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Page 14: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

=13= EXHIBIT I

Armst r ong Cark Company

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE RoO oC oE 0 CONCEPI'

ROCE (Return on Capital Employed) ~ Net Prof i t Af t er TaxAver age Capi tal Empl oyed (Total Assets)

ROlGE ~ Net Profit After Tax Net Sal esNet Sales X Average Capital Empl oyed

ROCE ~ %Profit on Sales X Capital Turnover

RODE s $ 15»000»000$300»000.1'000

X $300»000»000$150» 000»000

ROCE :;;; X or

$ 203030

(MillionfGapi t al Employed

Cash and Securit iesAccount s Receivabl eI nventor iesPl ant 9 Proper t y arid Equi pment

(Net of Re se rves ) 60Other Assets 10

Total Capital Employed $150

Net Pro f it Afte r Tax(Millions ) ( %)

Sales $300 100-Less: --

Di rect Production Gost s $180 60Period Produ cti on Costs 30 10Selling Expense 30 10Administrative Expense 15 5Other Expense 15 5Federal Income Tax 15 5

Total Costs $285 95

Net Pr of it After Tax $ 15 .2

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Page 15: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

EXHIBrr 2:

Pr oj to

No . 555700'Est c Camp <.

Dat e 7/1/55

Da t e < 1 'l/r" ~- ( ?

135Fl o r

Obso'Lescenee--~"---~----

_:..-;..~ ="M~Q REQUEST

Es t o Cost $ 110 1)000

=14=

Job Noe .Superse""d-e~s -,,""'ID"'-;;jl'--=Orde r Noo Pl ant .Bldg ~

-~---'----- ----~-~ - _ --::...::...

lO~OOO

,i..\

I,I

IrI

uct i on

Summary of Estima.ted Economic 'f a " - r

i n This Bl ock t o Be Inserted by Division Control ler

e .u r n on ver a ge ot a ~~ '''WOTE g Be f or e Cha rge fo r Expe nse & Obs o'Lea ceAdded capital Employed 36,8 % ~,ooo Aft.er Tax in F:ir s t Year

Title ' &t:*1~akifk;Y Q~~--Replace Fl i m Mol ded Linoleum Mixers wi t h Flam High SpeedM L'lCe r s .,

Pl a nt Dept ~

Mgl"G Dat ,®) 'Mg"~ DateJ "

Chief Di vo Gen&Ar chitEwt .: Dat ,e Mgr o Date

"' I

Asst .. ehf" Pr od "Engr , Dat e Mgr .• Date,

Chief V op ~

. Engr o Dat e ~Jlf" '~. Dat e• -~ b C>.

Gen o Pr ad o'Planning Mgro Dat e Control l er Date

Di r o of Exec, Dat eResear ch Dat e Co 1l1:1b Gr anted

Assoc " Di ro "':' '': ':,

of Res ear ch Dat o Ac count

For m1644 2=55 .Print edin Uni t ed St a t es of Amer i ca

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Page 16: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

Ca t egory I

EXHIBIT 'j

Ar mst r ong COI 'k :Compa ny

CLA.SSIFICATIONS OF CA PITAL APPROPRIATION REQUESTSBY REASON FOR REQUEST

,--~-- ' ,~--~

Expendi tures which are requi r ed t o maintain RaCE oneXist ing ope rati ons

Rebui l di ng and Re pl .a cemerrsGener a.l Pl ant I mpr ovement,Sa f et y';; Hea l t h a nd Wor lring Condit ,ions

Expe ndi t ures wni.ch will i mprotv'e ROW for t he company

l~ Cost Redu~tion

2 0 Qua l i t y Improvement3" Capa ci t y Expa ns aon for Exi s t ,i ng Produ cts4" New Pr-odu cbs

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Page 17: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

T(.

- 16 -

ESTIMATES OF PERIOD FOR RECOVERY OF COST AND RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED

o S YRS.llIAVG. YEAR DURING E.E.P.P.

Use lines numbered (~) through (21) to support any estimated cost reduction , Indicated In any requestregardless of category if line numbered (I) is $2,000 or more.

~---~.

"..... Replace FUm Mixers ldth Flam High DATE 12/20L54rlTLESpeed Mixers on CommodiV "All Line PROJECT NO. 555700

[,LiNT Floor P. & L. STATEMEN'r COMMOD ITV "A"(I) Total Funds Requested $ 110,000 (2) Obsolescence Requested $ 10,000

(a) Capital , $ 100,000 (3) Estimated Efficient { 6 or More Yrs. li1(b) Expense 10,000 Productive Period --Yrs.-

.....-;"11 Material,.- 5 Labor

6 Scrap

A. PRESENT FACILITIES

A'ioo.. ooo,nn nnn

"n,nnn

B. PROPOSED FACILITIES~J,Arl nnn

The Division Controller will use lines numbered (22) through (39) in accordance withoutlined in Section 13.2, Paragraph "e" of the Accounting Manual.

-7 Salaries8 Employee Benefits (IS% x Us f #7))

- 9 Power10 ReDal rs and Mal ntenance

16 Average Added Prof i t after Tax (50 "/0 of HISB)17 Add: Dep'n. Difference (f}IIB - HilA)18 Average Annual Amount Recovered (f}16'" f}17)19) Period for Recovery of Cost (HI : H18)

15.000Ii 000

20 0002.0008 000

-12,000~fnnn

'n nnnlnnnn'n nnn

h"n nnn,.

"in.nnn,.

21i.OOO,.

a.noo'.:l~.nnn

~.~ Yrs.

the procedure

FORECAST FORCURRENT YEAR

AVG. YEAR DURING E.E.P.P.A. PRESENT FACILITIES

o S YRS. tlB. PROPOSED FACILITIES

20 Sales Units _ 'Dol ..,.....

(000)

son(000)

, .nno(000 ), nnn

~, nnn21 Het Sales22 Plant Direct Cost23 Plant Period COllt2~ Sell ing Expense

tl..OOO

100 ,nn

,.,.

25 Administrative Expense26 Prof i t before Tax27 Profit after Tax. 50 %28 Average Added Prof i t after Tax (l27B - H27A)

100'iO

l,.n ,.,.,.

29 Add: Dep'n. Cost in f}23B Less Dep'n. Cost In H23A30) Average Annual Amount Recovered (US + H29)31 Period for Recovery of Cost (II : H30) Yrs.32) Cash

33) Receivables3~ ' I nvent or ies35 Property, Plant, and Equipment

1'iOlOO ./,,70

36 Miscellaneous37 Average Total Capital Employed.!8 Return on Average Total Capital Employed (1I27 ...... f}'37)

.!! Return on Average Total Added Capital Employed (l28+(1I37B-1I37A))

7117.CYt.

77q

36.8t

,.,.

Robert V, JonesPLANT CONTROLLER

'Ri chard M. BlackDIY. CONTROLLER

LI nee numbe red(3) and (20)through (39)

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Page 18: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

r "E""£'t!I Of' C..."l'E..O...... \,CAPITAL API'II.OP!l,ATIOII. Of "0,000 AIIO O~Ell

Exhibit 5

I

I-'-..l

57 8-55

MO. OF 140S. RECOVERY PER I 00OR IGI NAL1M ACTUAL

-TOTAL EXPENO I TURES

ESTI MATEDSTATUS OPERATION Or ig i nal Indicated

DATE OFPROJECT OESeR IPTI ON

Orig inal COMPLET IONTO Est imat e to

ITEM ORIGINALActua l

OATEMO. APPROVAL MO.

to Est i ",ate

p--- • • _- -

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Page 19: An Evaluation of Past Company Decisions on Equipment Replacement

- - -_.__.- -------REPORT Of

COMPLETED AID TESTED CATE60IY II PROJECTS

lyb2bit. 6

I

I-'CO

8-55

f I1ST YEAR CHARGEAVERAGE

AIIIUAl AVERAGEfOR EXPEISE

TOTAL COMPlETlOI YEARS RECOVERY AIIUAl OPERATlleOPERATlIG SAV IIGS

RESULT IIG fROM

ITEM DATE Of PROJECT EXPEID nUKES DATE 'NClUDED PERIOD RETURN 01 ADDEDAfTER TAl

CAPITAL EXPEIDITURES

10. ORIGINAL lUMBERDESCR IPTI01 AID COMMENTS II TEST CAP ITAL EMPLOYED AIID OBSOLESCENCE

APPROVAL PERIOD AfTER TAX

Actual OriginalActual

Orig inal Indicated OriginalActual

OriginalActual

Orlgina' Original

Coet Esti.ate Estlute Actua' Eati.ate Eatl.ate EaU.ateActual Eat i.ate

<-- IIrn .. rr

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