Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500520
JUNE 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 73 marketing and sales adder at 87 cents each," Andy said. Aer Sue explained that his managers and accountants add $2.90 and $1.02, respec- tively. Andy added with a chuckle, "Your three administrative assistants add $1.74 and the one personnel manager 87 cents." "Your requested salary costs $1.83 per hour per worker and we added 10% for a modest profit," Sue said. "Okay, you win," Matt replied. "I'm embar- rassed that I never really thought about the fact that the only people earning money for the company are those that make the product. eir efforts need to financially support the many people who are obviously important but don't generate revenue." "You finally get it, Matt," Patty said gently. "Professor Patty, one of your cardinal rules is that doubling what an operator is paid approx- imates what they will cost," Sue said trium- phantly. "Twice $20 per hour equals $40 per hour, quite close to our estimate of the cost of $44 per hour." Patty felt warmly toward Sue for having called her Professor Patty. Epilogue: Matt charged $48 per hour for the operators and $80 per hour for the engineers. He explained this to his customer using a cost analysis similar to the one that Patty, Sue, and Andy recommended. Both the customer and Matt's company benefited from the relation- ship. e Board of Advisors of the engineering school at Ivy U asked for an example of engi- neering students solving practical, engineer- ing/business-related problems. e Dean asked Patty for help, and she suggested that Sue and Andy give a presentation on their project. At the end of the presentation, even very senior members of the Board of Advisors referred to Professor Patricia Coleman, PhD, PE, as "Professor Patty." Note om Dr. Ron: I'm sure many readers will think that this post is just a work of fiction. Aer all, no one could be as clueless as Matt. As with all my posts, this one is based on a true story. Would you like the Excel spreadsheet Sue used to make the calculations? Send me an email at rlasky@indium.com. SMT007 Ronald C. Lasky is an instruc- tional professor of engineer- ing for the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth Col- lege, and senior technologist at Indium Corporation. To read past columns, click here.