PART VII | LESSON 29: THE BUSINESS CASE MATERIAL HANDLING ACADEMY
DRIVING QUESTION Does this system pay for itself, and can I prove it?
A cumulative cash line chart over five years, stepping down at year zero to the system investment and climbing each year as savings accumulate, crossing break-even partway through year three in gold, with a dashed year-three marker labeled the customer's threshold, not the industry's.

Payback is investment over annual savings. The threshold is theirs to set.

The Three Savings Sources

Labor

Positions eliminated or redeployed, at fully loaded cost across the shifts that run.

Chargebacks

Misdirects prevented, valued at what each costs in chargebacks and rework.

Throughput

Added capacity, valued only where it converts to revenue or avoided overtime.

SIMPLE PAYBACK
total investment ÷ annual savings = years

There's no industry-standard payback. The approval threshold is the customer's own number.

DESIGN PRINCIPLE The business case is engineering. Build it from confirmed inputs.