Foundry & Forging calculator

Pour Weight Reduction Payback Calculator

Compare a lighter-pour project with your payback limit using documented annual savings and continuing validation costs.

What this calculator does

  • Compare a lighter-pour project with your payback limit using documented annual savings and continuing validation costs.

Formula used

  • Net annual savings = annual avoided cost − annual continuing cost
  • Simple payback = project cost ÷ positive net annual savings
  • Horizon net value = net annual savings × analysis horizon − project cost
  • Horizon return = horizon net value ÷ positive project cost × 100
  • Payback margin = maximum accepted payback − simple payback

Inputs explained

  • Project Cost: Quoted tooling, modeling, trials and installation spending.
  • Annual Avoided Cost: Approved annual savings from the pour-weight business case.
  • Annual Continuing Cost: Recurring validation, maintenance and operating costs.
  • Analysis Horizon: Planning horizon from the capital proposal.
  • Maximum Accepted Payback: Your capital approval limit in years.

How to use the result

  • Best suited to a lower project cost shortens Payback, a higher project cost misses the limit.
  • Simple payback excludes discounting, financing, taxes and salvage value. Lower pour weight requires separate feeding and casting-quality validation.

Current U.S. benchmarks

  • The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 381.162 (BLS, Aug 2026), up 23.4% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
  • The U.S. has 3,569 primary metal manufacturing establishments employing about 354,911 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

  • Is this a pour-weight calculation? It evaluates the payback of a documented pour-weight reduction project. Establish the feasible metal reduction separately.
  • Should remelt metal be valued as purchased metal? Only count costs actually avoided. Recirculated rigging can save energy and handling without avoiding the full raw-metal purchase price.
  • What if annual savings do not cover upkeep? Payback is undefined. Continuing costs still apply, so revise the avoided-cost estimate or the project scope.
  • Why is return blank for a free project? A percentage return divides by project cost. At zero cost that percentage has no defined denominator.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.