Appliances, HVAC & White Goods Manufacturing worked example

White Goods Automation Payback Calculator with automation investment of 1,125,000 $: a worked example

Push automation investment up to 1,125,000 $ and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. an operations or manufacturing engineering team needs to screen an appliance automation investment

The inputs for this scenario

  • Automation investment: 1,125,000 $ (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 450,000)
  • Annual labor, scrap, and capacity savings: 165,000 $ / yr (unchanged)
  • Annual automation support cost: 28,000 $ / yr (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Net annual automation savings = annual labor, scrap, and capacity savings - annual automation support cost) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8.21 yr for white goods automation payback period, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 137,000 $ / yr for net annual automation savings.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,125,000 $ for automation investment.
  • At this operating point the engine returns -440,000 $ for five-year net automation value.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where automation investment sits at 450,000 $ and the headline result is 3.28 yr, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 8.21 yr.
  • It computes how many years net annual automation savings take to repay an appliance-line automation investment, plus the five-year net value. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • White goods automation payback period: 8.21 yr (headline result)
  • Net annual automation savings: 137,000 $ / yr
  • Automation investment: 1,125,000 $
  • Five-year net automation value: -440,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live White Goods Automation Payback Calculator calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.