The potential Return on Investment (ROI) of your robot will help determine if robots are worth it… but how can you calculate an accurate ROI?
There are many freely available ROI calculators online. All of them are slightly different, demonstrating the varied factors that affect this calculation.
We have scoured the internet to find the best calculators from leading robotics authorities.
Some requirements of a good robot ROI calculator include:
- The calculator should include detailed inputs that reflect the operational characteristics of your facility, such as detailed human labor costs.
- The calculator should accept variables associated with the total system cost of a robotic system, including accessories and tools.
- The calculator should forecast the payback period and ideally give forecasts for the financial return over several years.
Here are 12 of the best robot ROI calculators that we have found that meet these requirements reasonably well:
1. Otto Motors ROI Calculator
This calculator from Otto Motors is fairly simple and is specifically designed for material transport automation.
It requires that you enter your details to generate the calculation and only calculates the payback period.
- Key input variables: Number of material transport personnel, labor rate, operating hours.
- Calculates: Payback period.
2. Automate Robotics ROI Calculator
This calculator is from A3, the Association for Advancing Automation and Robotics. It shows the potential cost savings of using robots instead of manual labor over the lifetime of a project.
- Key input variables: Total system cost, annual labor costs, and expected productivity gains.
- Calculates: Break-even point, labor savings, productivity savings, and a 15-year ROI chart.
3. Robotiq ROI Calculator
This calculator from Robotiq provides a straightforward calculation comparing a manual process with a robotic one.
It doesn’t require you to enter any personal details, unless you want to download a PDF of your analysis.
- Key input variables: Yearly salary, downtime cost, scrap part costs, robot costs, and ongoing robot processes costs.
- Calculates: Total operation and profit with vs. without the robot, graphs, and data tables over 5 years.
4. Omron ROI Calculator
This calculator from Omron presents a 3-step ROI calculation. It is specific to using the company’s LD autonomous mobile platforms or the Techman collaborative robots. It requires you enter your details to view the calculation.
If you are using Omron robots, this calculator is a great companion to our guide How to Program OMRON Robots Easily.
- Key input variables: Employees per shift, robot costs, annual costs.
- Calculates: Payback time, percentage ROI, net present value, and payback graphs for both purchase and leasing options
5. MWES ROI Calculator
This calculator from MWES presents the cost benefits of switching to a robotic process, plus a guide to understanding the results.
One added variable this calculator requires is the expected productivity gains of the robot, which the company explains are typically between 20-30%.
- Key input variables: Total robot system cost, expected productivity gains, annual labor cost.
- Calculates: 15-year investment overview, break-even year, and cumulative returns.
6. WMH Robotics ROI Calculator
This calculator from WMH Robotics is not an online tool. Rather, it is offered in a downloadable spreadsheet format.
It includes a very detailed calculation with a lot of variables.
- Key input variables: 7 variables for current operator cost (e.g. employees per shift, operator efficiency, yearly employee salary), 10 variables for proposed robot system cost(e.g. robot, gripper, safety equipment, training)
- Calculates: Yearly cost breakdown with and without super deduction, ROI overview with graphs from 1 to 10 years.
7. Unchained Robotics and Robots ROI Calculator
This calculator from Unchained Robotics offers the same calculation as that from Robots.com.
It is a simple calculator that generates a basic selection of calculations.
- Key input variables: Robot system price, workers per shift, annual employee compensation.
- Calculates: Total labor cost, estimated electrical cost of robot, estimated annual net savings, and time to break even.
8. Vecna Robotics ROI Calculator
This calculator from Vecna Robotics offers a unique feature in that you can select the type of tasks and facility type.
It provides a selection of common tasks in both warehousing or manufacturing facilities.
- Key input variables: Facility size, number of shifts, hours per shift, operating days per week, operating teams, number of workers to replace per shift, hourly wage.
- Calculates: 3-year cost of manual labor, robot cost, and savings.
9. Hy-Tek ROI Guide for Warehouse Robots
This resource from Hy-Tek is not a calculator. However, it is notable because it provides an in-depth guide to calculating the ROI for warehouse robotics specifically.
As well as providing calculations, this guide also gives tips on increasing ROI that can apply to other robotic applications as well.
- Key variables: Manual variables like packing and pick rate, team members required, and turnover costs. Robot system variables like automation level, scalability, and upfront costs.
- Calculates: Provides calculations for ROI and yearly change of the key variables.
10. Quantum Robotics ROI Calculator
This calculator from Quantum Robotics provides a simple estimation of the ROI for hospitality service robots.
These autonomous mobile robots make deliveries between different locations within hospitality settings, so the calculation is based on around the number of deliveries per day.
- Key input variables: Number of rooms, estimated number of deliveries a day, number of robots, robot cost per month, estimated staff time per delivery, and estimated hourly wage of staff.
- Calculates: Total hours of staff time saved per day and per year, estimated annual cost of staff delivery, annual robot cost, and total annual savings of robot delivery.
11. Mobile Industrial Robots ROI Calculator
This calculator from Mobile Industrial Robots is also for calculating the ROI of autonomous mobile robots.
A key feature of this calculator is that it compares the ROI of purchasing the robot with the return from leasing the robot. It requires you to enter your details to receive the calculation.
- Key input variables: Number of material handlers per shift, loaded hourly cost, hours per shift, shifts per day, operating days per week, and production weeks per year. For leasing, it also asks for the number of robots, production hours per week, and length of lease.
- Calculates: Payback time and internal rate of return as a percentage over 5 years for a specific robot, and how many robots you would need.
12. Pomorobotics ROI Calculator
This calculator from Pomorobotics is a simple online calculator that estimates a range of different costs and saving of using a robot.
Both the investment and payback estimations are divided into fast, medium, and slow payback times, allowing you to get a clearer idea of the range.
- Key input variables: Tasks per operator, labor costs, and productivity savings.
- Calculates: Annual labor costs, investment, productivity savings, and payback periods.
Ultimately, the best ROI calculator for your business will depend on your application. It can be a good idea to try out a few different calculators to get a clearer idea of the range of ROI figures that you might expect.
If you want to improve your ROI even further, the right programming software can make a vast difference. RoboDK makes robot programming quick and easy, which can reduce time to deployment and cut integration costs.
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