Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its 25th birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits.
Essay:The argument claims that the costs related to food procession of Olympic foods will go down soon and this decrease in costs will lead to maximation of the profits. The conclusion of the argument is based on the premise that with time the organisations become better at processing and thus the costs of processing decreases.The conclusion of the argument relies on the assumption for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is unconvincing and has several flaws.
First, the argument readily assumes that the color processing industry is similar to the food processing industry and whatever is true for color processing industry is also true for food processing industry. However, it might not be the case. It is very likely that food processing industry has several different factors that can influence the optimisation of the processing costs. The argument has not mentioned any example of food industry where the costs of food processing have gone down with time.
Second, the arguemnt has not mentioned the specific timeframe that is required for the costs of processing to go down. The argument has cited that Olympic Foods will complete 25 years of operation very soon. However, it might not be the sufficent time for the Olympic Foods to minimise the costs. It is quite possible that the food processing industr taked many more years to reach the desired level of processing costs than other industries. In that case, Olympic foods will not be able to reach the minimum food processing costs before or on its 25th birthday.
Finally, the argument has cited an example of color film processing industry where the cost of 3 by 5 print has gone down. However, the example cited is not very clear. Argument has stated that earlier it used to take 50 cents for five day service, whereas in 1984, the cost of processing was 20 cents for one day. However, it is quite possible that in 1984, the timeframe for developing of 3 by 5 prints was one or more days. In case of three or more days of service, the cost of processing would be 60 cents or more. Hence, the given example is not really contributing in the conclusion of the argument.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed for above mentioned reasons and is thus unconvincing. Based upon the given premises, it can't be concluded that on or before its 25th birthday, Olympic Foods will reach the level of minimum costs of processing and maximum profits. Without any further knowledge and data, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open for debate.