Beacon Company is considering automating its production facility. The initial investment in automation would be $$8\mathrm{.}42$

million, and the equipment has a useful life of $7$ years with a residual value of $$1,140,000.$ The company will use straight$-$

line depreciation. Beacon could expect a production increase of $32,000$ units per year and a reduction of $20$ percent in

the labor cost per unit.

PA$11-2$ Part $3$

Required:

Determine the project's payback period.

Note: Round your answer to $2$ decimal places.

Answer is complete but not entirely correct.