Shipping raw materials and finished goods can account for what share of a manufacturer's total cost?

1. A manufacturer pays to bring materials in and again to send finished goods out. 2. Together those flows can reach as much as 25 percent of total cost. 3. A quarter of total cost is large enough that placing the factory well can decide whether the firm succeeds. 4. That is why locating where shipping and related costs are as low as possible makes a major contribution. 5. Option A would be too small to drive a location decision at all. 6. Options C and D would leave too little of the cost base for materials, labor, and overhead combined, so neither is plausible. _Source: OpenStax Introduction to Business (CC BY 4.0), Ch 10 "Achieving World-Class Operations Management", section Availability of Production Inputs_