Additive Manufacturing worked example

Additive Equipment Payback with am equipment investment of 462,500 $: a worked example

This scenario runs the additive equipment payback calculation on the strong side: am equipment investment of 462,500 $, with every other input held at its documented default. a production manager or finance lead needs a quick payback check for an AM equipment purchase

The inputs for this scenario

  • AM equipment investment: 462,500 $ (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 185,000)
  • Annual AM savings/revenue: 76,000 $ / yr (unchanged)
  • Annual service and support: 18,000 $ / yr (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Net annual savings = annual AM savings/revenue - annual service and support) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 7.97 years for equipment payback period, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 58,000 $ / yr for net annual savings.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 462,500 $ for am equipment investment.
  • At this operating point the engine returns -172,500 $ for five-year net value.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where am equipment investment sits at 185,000 $ and the headline result is 3.19 years, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 7.97 years.
  • Use it when building the capital approval case for a new printer, comparing AM to a CNC or outsourcing baseline, or stack-ranking competing machine quotes. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Equipment payback period: 7.97 years (headline result)
  • Net annual savings: 58,000 $ / yr
  • AM equipment investment: 462,500 $
  • Five-year net value: -172,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Additive Equipment Payback calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.