Im sure this has been discussed here before, but what is the best way to price a 3d print job? without having to upload the file to a website to calculate.
Kevin
Z-Suite tells you the amount of material consumed by a piece, and you know the cost of a z-ABS spool containing 800gr. So it is easy to know the cost of material of each print.
If you want to be more accurate, you can add the energy consumption. The power consumption of M200 is (according to stated specifications) is about 190w. This value will change depending on the the print parameters (material, velocity, layer, etc.) but I think that it can be used in order to obtain an estimation (I will use 200w in order to round off). Multiplying the print job times the power consumption, you obtain the energy consumption.
You could also attribute a fraction of the price of the M200 to te printed part. I don't know how long can work the M200. You can say that your M200 will be amortized after 2000 hours working time. So 1 hour of printing costs 1 €.
Example.
I print a piece which consumes 100gr of z-ABS and spends 5 hours.
The material costs 30€ per 800gr spool. That is 0.0375€/gr.
The electric energy in Spain costs about 0.13€/Kw·h.
* Material cost: 100gr * 0.0375€ = 3.75€
* Energy cost: (0.2kw * 5h)*0.13€/kw·h = 1 kw·h * 0.13€/kw·h = 0.13€
* M200 amortization = 5h · 1€/h = 5 €
So the piece costs nearly 4€ directly, but about 9€ if you impute the cost of the M200 to the time of the piece.
Z-Suite tells you the amount of material consumed by a piece, and you know the cost of a z-ABS spool containing 800gr. So it is easy to know the cost of material of each print.
If you want to be more accurate, you can add the energy consumption. The power consumption of M200 is (according to stated specifications) is about 190w. This value will change depending on the the print parameters (material, velocity, layer, etc.) but I think that it can be used in order to obtain an estimation (I will use 200w in order to round off). Multiplying the print job times the power consumption, you obtain the energy consumption.
You could also attribute a fraction of the price of the M200 to te printed part. I don't know how long can work the M200. You can say that your M200 will be amortized after 2000 hours working time. So 1 hour of printing costs 1 €.
Example.
I print a piece which consumes 100gr of z-ABS and spends 5 hours.
The material costs 30€ per 800gr spool. That is 0.0375€/gr.
The electric energy in Spain costs about 0.13€/Kw·h.
* Material cost: 100gr * 0.0375€ = 3.75€
* Energy cost: (0.2kw * 5h)*0.13€/kw·h = 1 kw·h * 0.13€/kw·h = 0.13€
* M200 amortization = 5h · 1€/h = 5 €
So the piece costs nearly 4€ directly, but about 9€ if you impute the cost of the M200 to the time of the piece.
Thank you very much this is a great help, so safe to say it is fairly economical to run really, thanks again, much appreciated, maybe Zortrax will make an app available some time. that would be handy.
I'm not neither economist nor accountant, so this is a very simplified calculation method. I use a MS Excel file to obtain these basic estimations.
Actually there are more costs that are difficult to impute to each piece, such as the maintenance/repairs, etc. So, If you want to sell printed pieces and you need to know the real cost in order to set a sale price and not to lose money, it is not so easy. You should impute also the time you spend setting up the M200 (your time is the most valuable!). Since there are several indirect costs (such as the failed print works, repairs, replacement parts, etc.) that are difficult to forecast and to impute to each piece, I should take a percentage margin. Which margin? your experience will tell you.
I would not sell a printed piece for less than two times the estimated direct cost.