1. We are taking the costs of making a shoe box as an example to compare the similarities and differences of traditional manual work with that of the box making machine.

A. Manufacturing costs of a single box.
(1) Costs of papers and paperboards used as outer and inner facing of the box.
(2) Costs of plate making, printing, surface finishing (including gilding, gold stamping, polishing and filming), paper cutting, die cutting, etc.
The above costs of these two methods of making boxes are the same.
(3) Costs of hot melt paper tape and animal glue.

We have calculated that the cost of jelly glue per square meter of paper comes to 0.25 yuan, so the cost of glue required by a shoe box is
(0.53 × 0.43) – (0.125 × 0.125 × 4) + (0.41 × 0.31) - (0.055 × 0.055 × 4) = 0.2804 m2/box
0.2804 m2/box × 0.25 yuan = 0.0701yuan/box

For a box made by automatic rigid box maker, the cost of paper tap is
8/30000 × 18.5 = 0.004933 yuan

(4) Salary cost of machine operators
Our automatic rigid box maker produces 15,000 boxes per day, and it takes 16 to 20 hours and 4 personnel to operate.
45 yuan × 4 person ÷ 15,000 boxes/day = 0.012 yuan/box

(5) Electricity cost of machine operation
300 kWh/day × 0.75 yuan/kWh ÷ 15000 boxes/day =0.015 yuan/box

So the total cost of producing a box by the automatic rigid box maker is:
0.070 + 0.005 + 0.012 + 0.015 = 0.102 yuan/box

B. Required factory space: based on the daily production of 15,000 boxes, we need only one factory with 50 square meters under mechanized production, and as the glue dries fast, we can deliver our products within a short time. So we just need to equip a warehouse covering 500 square meters.

C. Logistics services and management fees: as mechanized production can be immediately incorporated into your existing production management process, so no further charge is required.

2. Costs of manual pasting practices in the manufacturing of carton

(1) Costs of glue: 0.0756 yuan/box
(2) Cost of tape paper: 0.0056 yuan/box
(3) Fees (salary): 0.1600 yuan/box
So total costs of manual pasting operation of each box come to:
0.0756 + 0.0056 + 0.1600 = 0.2412 yuan/box
Note: the above fees do not include logistics, management fee and electricity.

3. Benefits

We’ve visited many printing and carton purchasers, from whom we learned some market information: the unit price of box made by automatic machine can be increased by 0.06 to 0.10 yuan, and by calculating the cost difference, we calculate the increased benefit as: (0.2412 yuan/box - 0.102 yuan/box) + 0.102 yuan/box = RMB 0.2192 yuan/set.

In this way, if we can guarantee the daily production of 15,000 boxes, then the increased benefit per day will be: 15000 boxes × 0.2192 yuan/box = RMB 3,288 yuan/day.