Mango Electronics Inc. is a Fortune 500 company that develops and markets innovative consumer electronics products. The development process proceeds as follows. Mango researches new technologies to address unmet market needs. Patents are filed for products that have the requisite market potential. Patents are granted for a period of 20 years starting from the date of issue. After receiving a patent, the patented technologies are then developed into marketable products at five independent development centers. Each product is only developed at one center. Each center has all the requisite skills to bring any of the products to market (a center works on one product at a time). On average, Mango files a patent every 7 months (with standard deviation of 7 months). The average development process lasts 28 months (with standard deviation of 56 months).
a. What is the utilization of Mango's development facilities?
b. How long does it take an average technology to go from filing a patent to being launched in the market as a commercial product?
c. How many years of patent life are left for an average product launched by Mango Electronics?