Lab Equipment & Scientific Instrument Manufacturing worked example

Field Service Spare Kit with service kits to build of 130 kits: a worked example

What does the result look like when service kits to build reaches 130 kits? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use when designing field service kit programs for an installed base of instruments, budgeting spare parts inventory, or pricing preventive maintenance service contracts. Common for chromatographs, mass spectrometers, flow cytometers, and analytical systems with consumable components.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Service kits to build: 130 kits (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 50)
  • Variable component cost per kit: 350 $ / kit (unchanged)
  • Fixed program cost: 2,000 $ (unchanged)
  • Kit assembly and verification labor: 500 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total kit program cost = (kits x variable cost per kit) + fixed program cost + assembly labor) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 48,000 $ for total kit program cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 369 $ / piece for cost per service kit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 45,500 $ for variable component cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 2,500 $ for fixed program and labor cost.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where service kits to build sits at 50 kits and the headline result is 20,000 $, this scenario comes in 140% above the baseline at 48,000 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when service kits to build is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It treats fixed program cost and labor as one-time totals spread over the planned kits; if you build fewer kits than planned, per-kit cost rises because that overhead doesn't shrink.

Results at a glance

  • Total kit program cost: 48,000 $ (headline result)
  • Cost per service kit: 369 $ / piece
  • Variable component cost: 45,500 $
  • Fixed program and labor cost: 2,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Field Service Spare Kit calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.