Sonic partners with college to buid ROI Calculator
Sonic, a provider of professional-grade tool solutions and equipment, today announced its Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator.
Developed in partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) faculty and students as part of its Major Qualifying Project (MQP) requirement, Sonic has debuted a unique tool that calculates the ROI of Sonic hand tools and storage solutions for an industrial or commercial business serving the automotive, manufacturing, or aviation industries.
The ROI Calculator estimates the cost savings resulting from the operational efficiency of investing in and using Sonic hand tools and storage solutions—including its Sonic Foam System (SFS), designed to keep everything where it should be without the need to dig through an unorganized, messy tool drawer. Values from a third-party study were used to compare Sonic to a standard industry toolset in the development of the calculator. The analysis is based on a standard 250-day work year to ensure that the results reflect annual performance accurately.
“In developing the ROI Calculator, we wanted to allow prospects to understand the value an investment in Sonic tools provides. Our team can talk about the value all day, but they need to see the figures themselves, rather than just hear it from us,” said Colby McConnell, CEO of Sonic USA. “In partnering with WPI, we empowered students to apply their data science skills to a real-world application via service and repair efficiency and productivity. In turn, Sonic can offer prospects detailed savings information specifically tailored to their respective environment across automotive, manufacturing, and aerospace.”
When five questions are answered, the ROI Calculator estimates productivity and the resulting cost savings from a more efficient service and repair environment. The results show how much a shop can save and are represented by a range determined via a calculation of simple, moderate, and difficult tasks.
“Every undergraduate must complete an MQP project—a capstone project that is an integral element of our project-based education at WPI. MQPs are high-level research projects that address problems similar to those found in a student’s professional discipline,” said Jim Ryan, associate teaching professor of management information systems (MIS), information systems and technologies (IST), and business analytics (BA) at WPI.
In this case, the Sonic MQP spanned MIS, IST, BA—and data science and industrial engineering. Students were guided by professors in these areas of study, including Ryan, Fatemeh Emdad, professor of data science and artificial intelligence, and Joe Zhu, professor of operations analytics.
Speaking for the team, Emdad shared, “It’s been a pleasure overseeing the ROI Calculator project with Sonic and mentoring our students to develop a real-world tool that provides value and guidance to service and repair decision-makers.”
For more information about Sonic and the ROI Calculator, visit: https://sonictoolsstg.wpengine.com/toolset-roi-calculator/.
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