American Airlines Group (AAL), the world’s biggest airline, posted a loss in the first quarter of 2022, but expects to return to profitability as early as the second quarter of 2022. Despite the large profit, airlines have been experiencing a large increase in the cost of oil. The price of oil has risen during 2022; […]
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Tag Archives: fixed costs
What costs are relevant when determining how many pizzas a month Stellar Pizza must sell to break even?
January 4, 2022 
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Stellar Pizza has a pizza-making robotic machine that was built by three former SpaceX engineers. More than 23 former SpaceX employees work at Stellar Pizza. The pizza-making robot can produce a pizza every 45 seconds. A pizza can be customized, baked, and topped in less than five minutes by the robotic machine. Stellar Pizza will […]
Continue readingHow would a nail-painting robot impact a hotel spa’s cost behavior and operating leverage?
November 17, 2021 0 Comments
Clockwork, a startup in San Francisco, has built a robot that paints nails in under ten minutes. This video shows the nail painting robot in action. The robot has a 3D camera with which it takes pictures of each nail to build a 3D map of the nail. Then the robot’s artificial intelligence system uses […]
Continue readingWhat costs are relevant when determining how many pizzas a month Zume Pizza must sell to break even?
March 9, 2017 4 Comments
Zume Pizza uses a combination of robots, artificial intelligence (AI), and GPS in its food trucks to deliver pizzas to customers’ houses just as the pizza is finished baking. Pizzas are actually prepared and baked in the Zume pizza truck by an employee assisted by robots. Zume Pizza started operations in April 2016 and is currently […]
Continue readingHow would replacing a tattoo artist with a robot change the cost structure at a tattoo studio?
September 22, 2016 0 Comments
French artists Pierre Emm and Johan da Silveira have developed a prototype of a tattoo robot during an Autodesk-sponsored Pier 9 residency in San Francisco. There are several steps involved in the tattooing process when performed by a robot. First, a 3D scan of the targeted body part has to first be made. The tattoo […]
Continue readingHow many snow cones need to be sold for a Snowie™ snow cone cart to break even?
August 16, 2016 0 Comments
Snowie™ is a brand of flavored shaved ice that is sold in snow cones at a variety of events and locations across the United States. Recently, a Snowie™ cart was spotted at the Kent Heritage Festival this summer. During this festival, street vendors offer a variety of foods and drinks. At the Snowie™ cart, festival […]
Continue readingWhat costs are relevant when pricing a cargo ship cruise?
November 19, 2015 0 Comments
Challenging economic conditions in several countries have pushed freight ship companies to look for additional sources of revenues in addition to the revenue generated by hauling freight across the ocean. In recent years, one additional source of revenue for these freight companies has been to take on cruise passengers in addition to regular cargo. Generally […]
Continue readingWhat happens to the breakeven point when Sports Illustrated lays off all six staff photographers and uses freelancers instead?
March 13, 2015 0 Comments
Sports Illustrated announced in late January 2015 that it would be laying off all six of its staff photographers. Instead, it will be using freelance photographers around the world. Sports Illustrated is one of 90 magazines owned by Time Inc. (TIME). Published 56 times a year, Sports Illustrated is read by over 23 million people […]
Continue readingHow would using drones or bike messengers to deliver products affect Amazon’s cost structure and risk?
February 27, 2015 0 Comments
Amazon is a huge retailer, but it still struggles to compete against bricks-and-mortar stores when customers want the item “right now.” Amazon is currently testing two options to provide one hour deliveries: drones and bike messengers. A drone is an aircraft that flies without a human on board. It may be operated via remote control, […]
Continue readingWhat impact do lower fuel costs and other changes have on American Airline’s break even point?
January 7, 2015 0 Comments
American Airlines Group (AAL), the world’s biggest airline, has been reporting record profits in recent quarters. United Continental Holdings and Southwest Airlines also reported record profits. Part of what has contributed to the record profits has been the decline in the cost of oil. The price of oil has fallen during 2014; we are spending […]
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Accounting in the Headlines 