The Real Cost of Laser Welding
Presented at Great Designs in Steel
Stan Ream, Laser Technology Leader
Jim Tighe, CFO
Outline
• How do you measure cost?
• How does your boss measure cost?
• The “ABCs” of laser welding costs.
• Blank welding study cases
• How important is the laser in the laser system?
• Other factors that influence welding cost.
How to you measure cost?
- or how are you graded? -
• Cost of the laser
• Cost of the motion system
• Cost of associated automation
• Operating consumables
• How do Controllers look at cost?
– Sunk Cost
• “Can’t we continue using what we have?”
– Cash Outlay
• “What’s this going to cost?”
– ROI / Break-Even
• “When are we going to be ahead?”
• We need to speak a common language to come to
the right answer
– The “ABCs” (activity based costing)
Process
Elements
Operational
Cost Summary
Cost
Elements
Accountant
Speak
Production
Speak
Process Elements
Operational
Cost Summary
Cost
Elements
Direct Variable
Consumables
Capital
Equipment
Other Costs
Tooling
Payroll
Employees
Overhead
Sunk Costs
Acc
oun
tan
t Speak
P
rod
uct
ion
Sp
ea
k
Process Time, Load/Unload Time,
Maintenance Cycles, Useful Life
Allocated Floor Space
Custom Fixturing, Useful Life
Air, Gas, Electricity…
Staffing Quantity and Level, Shift
Routines
Cos
t /
P
roducti
vit
y
“Fully
Burdened
Cost per
Part”
“Cost of a
Part”
Much to Consider
- don’t even try to read this now -
Welding Process Cost Calculator:
User Input - Variable with Process User Input - Infrequent Calculated Output - Metrics Calculated Output - Cost Need to "fix" to become part of the model
Cost Elements
Input UnitsOperation Elements
Operational Cost Summary
Output UnitsCom pres s ed Air $ - $/100cf standby compressed air usage - cfh process compressed air usage - cfh
Helium Gas (laser) $ 34.36 $/100cf laser helium gas usage 1.70 cfh Consumable Cost (laser and process gas) 41.84 $/hr
helium plasma assist gas usage (60 cfh x 2) 120.00 cfh Nitrogen Gas (laser) $ 3.95 $/100cf laser nitrogen gas usage 0.35 cfh CO2 Gas (laser) $ 3.90 $/100cf laser CO2 usage 0.07 cfh Argon Shielding Gas $ 6.54 $/100cf welding trailing shield gas usage - cfh Other Gas $ - $/100cf
Wire $ - $/lb. filler wire diameter - inch filler wire speed - inch/min
Electric Power $ 0.0600 $/(kw-hr) Runtime electric power 120 kw Runtime Electric Power $ 6.34 Standby electric power 50 kw Standby Electric Power $ 0.36
Total Electric Cost $ 6.70 $/hr
PROCESS EQUIPMENT - 6kW CO2 Laser $ 400,000 $ process equipment space 5,000 ft.2 Avg. PROCESS EQUIP. - Depreciation 7.81 $/hr PROCESS EQUIPMENT - Salvage Value % 10 % load time 0 sec Avg. FIXTURING EQUIP. - Depreciation 0.00 $/hr Avg. PART HANDLING EQUIP. - Depreciation 68.35 $/hr FIXTURING EQUIP. - ___ $ - $ Travel speed 260 in/min 6.5 m/min Average Total Equipment Depreciation 76.16 $/hr FIXTURING EQUIP. - Salvage Value % 10 % Weld length 60.00 inch/weld 1.5 m Average Interest on Equipment 12.58 $/hr number of welds per part 1 welds/part Average Depreciation & Interest (8 years) 88.74 $/hr
PART HANDLING EQUIP. - 2 Station Clamp Line $ 3,500,000 $ indexing time per part - sec/part Asset Value at End of 8 Years $390,440
PART HANDLING EQUIP. - Salvage Value % 10 % unload time - sec
1st YR PROCESS EQUIP. - Depreciation 17.36 $/hr 1st YR FIXTURING EQUIP. - Depreciation 0.00 $/hr 1st YR PART HANDLING EQUIP. - Depreciation 151.91 $/hr Total Equipment Depreciation 169.27 $/hr First Year Equipment Interest 25.39 $/hr First Year Depreciation & Interest 194.66 $/hr Cycle Time 13.85 seconds/part Output Coupler $ 2,000 $/ea. Output Coupler life 1,000 hours
Cooling Water Filters $ 1,000 $/ea. Cooling Water Filters life 1,000 hours Blower $ 5,000 $/ea. Blower life 4.00 yr
Focus Optics, 2 sets $ 6,000 $/set Focusing Optics Life 1,000 hours/set Long Term Parts Costs 15.52 $/hr
Beam Delivery Optics $ 10,000 $/set Beam Delivery Optics Life 10,000 hours/set Beam Trap $ 1,000 $/ea. Beam Trap 500 hours Clamp feet $ 1,000 $/ea. Clamp feet 3,000 hours Belts $ 1,000 $/ea. Belts 1.50 yr Laser RF Tube $ 22,000 $/item RF tube life 1.60 yr Laser Vacuum Pump $ 2,500 $/item Vacuum Pump life 2.50 yr Operator Burdened Wage ( req'd) $ 20.75 $/hr Operator Loading 2 operators/line Handler Burdened Wage $ 17.70 $/hr Handler Loading 4 lines/handler Supervisor Burdened Wage $ 38.00 $/hr Supervisor Loading 6 lines/supervisor
Maintenance Burdened Wage $ 28.00 $/hr Maintenance Loading 6lines/maint tech Direct Labor Cost 56.93 $/hr
Tool Maker Burdened Wage (indirect) $ 34.00 $/hr Tool Maker Loading (indirect) 12 lines/tool maker
Engineering Support Staff burdened wage (indirect) $ 60.00 $/hr Engineering Staff Loading, including QA 6 lines/engr. Indirect Labor 12.83 $/hr
Maintenance Functions
Laser Tuning 2.00 hrs/month Focus Optics Cleaning 12.00 hrs/month Beam Path Alignment 6.00 hrs/month Other Maintenance 16.00 hrs/month Total scheduled maintenance 36.00 hrs/month Unscheduled maintenance 16.00 hrs/month
Total Maintenance 52.00 hrs/month Process Utilization 88% % of possible meals & breaks 0.73 hrs/shift
Plant Space Cost with Utilities $ 45.00 $/ft.2/yr facility schedule 3 shifts/day Plant Availability 720 shifts/yr yearly schedule 240 days/yr Plant Availability 5,760 hours/yr Cost of Money 5 %/yr Process Availability 5,232 hours/yr
Direct Facility Cost 39.06 $/hr
N ew E qu ip m en t O /H Lo ng -T er m P ar ts D ir ec t V ar ia bl e P ay ro ll