Costs of an Automated Welding System.

Basic parameters:

Operator and skilled welder salaries vary somewhat according to geographic locations. The basic assumptions used in the calculations below are as follows:
Work hours per year: 2000 (40 hours/week x  50 weeks/years)
Manual welder Costs
Average welder pay:     $16/hour (range from $14/hour - $18/hour)
Actual welder cost to employer:       $24/hour equals $48,000/year
(
1.5 X hourly rate for overhead, vacation, holidays, sick time, Social Security, unemployment taxes, insurance, etc.)

Operator Costs
Average operator pay:       $10/hour (range from $8/hour - $12/hour)
Actual cost to employer:  $15/hour equals 30,000/year
(1.5 X hourly rate for overhead)

The table below gives a simple example of calculations for return or investment based on equipment and labor costs alone. For a full analysis of actual costs the following must also be considered;

• Actual equipment cost • Labor rates • Production welding speeds possible • Supervisor cough • Personal management • Quality control costs • Reject and scrap cost • Customer relations •

Number of systems required for the call output.

8x

4x

1x

Individual system cost
Total equipment system investment

$5,000
$40,000

$32,000
$128,000

$200,000
$200,000

Individual welder cost/year
Individual operator cost/year
Labor cost/year for equal volume of output.
(One 8 hour shift)

$48,000

 

$384,000

 

$30,000

$120,000

 

$30,000

$120,000

Labor and equipment cost for a 12 month
period with one eight hour shift

$424,000

$248,000

$230,000

Labor and equipment cost for a 12 month
period with one eight hour shift

$808,000

$368,000

$260,000