It's a general problem, convincing a manager that a relatively small expenditure for capital equipment can significantly improve employee productivity.
I had a discussion with a manager some years back, where I was consulting to the company for $$$, telling him that a couple hundred bucks for a removable drive would have him a lot of money in terms of my time. His response was "To buy stuff I have to write up a request to senior management justifying the need. Your time is already budgeted. Request denied."
“Your time is already budgeted. Request denied.”
People who should never be in charge of anything are in charge of just about everything.