SY Manufacturers (SYM) is producing T-shirts in three colors: red, blue, and white. The monthly demand for each color is 3,487 units. Each shirt requires 0.75 pounds of raw cotton imported from the Luft-Geshfet-Textile (LGT) Company in Brazil. The purchasing price per pound is $1.55 (paid only when the cotton arrives at SYM's facilities) and transportation cost by sea is $0.70 per pound. The traveling time from LGT’s facility in Brazil to the SYM facility in the United States is two weeks. The cost of placing a cotton order by SYM is $186, and the annual interest rate that SYM is facing is 32 percent of the total cost per pound.

a. What is the optimal order quantity of cotton? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

- Optimal order quantity: ___ pounds

b. How frequently should the company order cotton? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

- Company orders once every ___ months

c. Assuming that the first order is needed on 1-Jul, when should SYM place the order?

- 17-Jun
- 1-Jul
- 15-Jul

d. How many orders will SYM place during the next year? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

- Number of orders: ___ times

e. What is the resulting annual holding cost? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

- Annual holding cost: $___ per year

f. What is the resulting annual ordering cost?

- Annual ordering cost: $___

g. If the annual interest cost is only 5 percent, how will it affect the annual number of orders, the optimal batch size, and the average inventory?