The repeat task
Use the work that can realistically move into a system, including the part family, handling time, changeovers, and exceptions.
Automation ROI and payback guide.
Calculate the labour-capacity part of an automation case using your own figures. Then check the costs and operating conditions that belong in a real investment decision.
Calculate a first estimate
Enter the investment, repeat hours, loaded hourly cost, and working weeks from your own operation.
What to include before you decide
The calculator is a starting point. A decision needs the full cost and workflow conditions of the task you plan to automate.
The complete investment
Include the equipment, tooling, fixtures, process equipment, controls, safeguards, installation, testing, and required site or integration work.
The operating case
Consider labour capacity, output, quality, rework, downtime, maintenance, finance, and the work that remains outside the system.
Use the estimate correctly
A labour-capacity estimate is not the final financial case. It helps you decide whether the production task is worth a closer review.
- Separate capacity from savings
- Capacity only becomes a saving when there is a defined way to use or avoid that work.
- Check the workflow
- Confirm the part presentation, tooling, process checks, changeovers, maintenance, and exception route before relying on an estimate.
- Use completed scope for approval
- Make a business decision from the agreed system scope, implementation plan, and production figures—not from a first calculator result alone.
FAQs
These answers explain how to use a first automation-payback estimate.
How is automation ROI assessed?
Start with the actual repeat work and compare the complete system investment with the labour capacity, output, quality, scrap, downtime, maintenance, finance, and operating changes that apply to that process. A simple calculator is only a starting point.
What should be included in an automation investment?
Include the equipment needed for the full workflow: robot or vehicle, tooling, fixture, process equipment, controls, safeguards, installation, testing, and any site or integration work required for the application.
Is labour saving the same as automation return?
No. A labour-capacity calculation does not by itself establish financial return. The assessment should also consider how work is redeployed, output, quality, downtime, maintenance, financing, and the operating work that remains outside the system.
Do I need final figures before contacting Uru Robotics?
No. Start with the production task you want to improve. Current hours, part flow, quality concerns, and the way work is handled become useful as the project review develops.
Related pages
Apply the same method to the automation task you are considering.
Robotic welding
Review repeat welding work, fixture requirements, process access, and cell scope.
Machine tending
Review the complete load, machine, unload, and operator hand-off sequence.
Palletizing and packaging
Review product flow, pallet patterns, end-of-line handling, and completed-pallet hand-off.
Contact Uru Robotics.
Discuss the repeat production task you want to automate.