Industrial Sensors & Instrumentation worked example

Sensor Test Fixture Payback with total fixture investment of 112,500 $: a worked example

What does the result look like when total fixture investment reaches 112,500 $? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use this when building a capital request for an automated test fixture, comparing manual vs. automated test station economics, or screening whether the payback is fast enough to meet your company's hurdle rate.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Total fixture investment: 112,500 $ (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 45,000)
  • Annual savings from test automation: 28,000 $ / yr (unchanged)
  • Annual fixture support cost: 4,500 $ / yr (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Net annual savings = annual savings from automation - annual fixture support cost) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4.79 yr for simple payback period (years), the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 23,500 $ / yr for net annual savings.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 112,500 $ for total fixture investment.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 5,000 $ for five-year net value.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where total fixture investment sits at 45,000 $ and the headline result is 1.91 yr, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 4.79 yr.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when total fixture investment is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It is a simple, undiscounted payback — it ignores the time value of money, ramp-up periods, and any savings that change year to year, so treat it as a screening metric, not a full NPV.

Results at a glance

  • Simple payback period (years): 4.79 yr (headline result)
  • Net annual savings: 23,500 $ / yr
  • Total fixture investment: 112,500 $
  • Five-year net value: 5,000 $

Run it with your numbers

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

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.