What belongs in annual fixed cost?

Everything the press costs whether it runs or not: depreciation, interest or lease payments, the maintenance budget, floor space, insurance and its share of plant overhead. Leave out electricity and operator labor, which are charged separately.

Why does my rate go up when the press runs less?

Because the same fixed cost is spread over fewer hours. At $120,000 a year, 5,000 hours gives $24.00/hr of fixed cost and 3,500 hours gives $34.29/hr. Energy per hour does not change.

How do I measure average power for a press?

Log kWh on a press sub-meter or clamp-on power logger over a full production run and divide by the run hours. Nameplate ratings are maximums and overstate the average.

What if my quoted rate already includes the operator?

Subtract the operator cost per press hour first, or the quote margin will look larger than it is. This rate excludes labor.

Injection Molding calculator

Injection Machine Hour Rate Calculator

Find what one billable press hour costs before labor, split into fixed cost and energy, and check it against the machine rate you quote. You need annual fixed cost, billable hours, metered kW and your electricity price.

What this calculator does

What one billable hour of an injection press costs before labor, and whether your quoted machine rate covers it.

Formula used

Fixed cost per hour = annual fixed cost ÷ billable hours per year
Energy cost per hour = average power (kW) × electricity price ($/kWh)
Machine hour rate = fixed cost per hour + energy cost per hour
Quote margin = quoted machine rate − machine hour rate; annual recovery = quote margin × billable hours
Break-even hours = annual fixed cost ÷ (quoted machine rate − energy cost per hour)

Inputs explained

Annual Fixed Cost: Ledger depreciation, interest, maintenance budget, floor space and insurance for this press.
Billable Press Hours per Year: Hours you expect to run and charge, net of downtime.
Average Power While Molding: Sub-meter kWh over a logged production run, divided by its hours.
Electricity Price: Utility bill total divided by kWh billed.
Machine Rate in Your Quotes: Press $/hr on your quoting sheet, excluding operator labor.

How to use the result

Best suited to setting the machine rate for a new press, checking quote rates after a press loses work, comparing hydraulic and all-electric press rates.
A shop-wide average rate misprices any press whose fixed cost or power differs from the average. Demand charges and time-of-use tariffs make the real price of an hour differ from the bill average.

Current U.S. benchmarks

As of Jul 2026, industrial electricity averages 9.8 cents per kWh across the U.S. (EIA), up 4.7% from a year earlier. State averages range widely, so plants should confirm against their own tariff.
The producer price index for plastic resins and materials stands at 280.569 (BLS, Aug 2026), up 6.6% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The U.S. has 9,635 plastics product manufacturing establishments employing about 677,302 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

What belongs in annual fixed cost? Everything the press costs whether it runs or not: depreciation, interest or lease payments, the maintenance budget, floor space, insurance and its share of plant overhead. Leave out electricity and operator labor, which are charged separately.
Why does my rate go up when the press runs less? Because the same fixed cost is spread over fewer hours. At $120,000 a year, 5,000 hours gives $24.00/hr of fixed cost and 3,500 hours gives $34.29/hr. Energy per hour does not change.
How do I measure average power for a press? Log kWh on a press sub-meter or clamp-on power logger over a full production run and divide by the run hours. Nameplate ratings are maximums and overstate the average.
What if my quoted rate already includes the operator? Subtract the operator cost per press hour first, or the quote margin will look larger than it is. This rate excludes labor.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.