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Interview prep / Behavioural/General

Sizing a beer-can plant for a single state

Question

You are designing a beer-can manufacturing plant to supply one US state. Estimate how many cans per year it needs to make.

Short answer

A few hundred million cans a year for a mid-sized state. Take a state of about 1010 million people, 75%75\% adults of drinking age, perhaps 50%50\% of whom drink beer, consuming an average of 33–44 beers a week, with about half of beer sold in cans: 107×0.75×0.5×3.5×52×0.5≈3.4×10810^7\times0.75\times0.5\times3.5\times52\times0.5\approx3.4\times10^8 cans, and more for a larger or heavier-drinking state. Then add headroom for peak demand and plant utilisation.

Adapted from Crack, Heard on the Street, Q5.5.16, p.55; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.

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