Plating, Anodizing & Surface Treatment worked example

Plating Cost per Part at 99% deposit acceptance rate: a worked example

This scenario runs the plating cost per part calculation on the strong side: 99% deposit acceptance rate, with every other input held at its documented default. Use it when pricing zinc, nickel, or chrome plating to capture the anode metal, bath time, and rejects each part carries.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Plated surface area per part: 1.8 sq ft (unchanged)
  • Plating price per square foot: 5.4 $/sq ft (unchanged)
  • Deposit acceptance rate: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 94)
  • Strike and rack setup adder: 2 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Plating cost = area x cost per square foot x acceptance% + strike and rack adder) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 11.62 $ for total plating cost per part cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6.46 $ / piece for plating cost per part cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 9.62 $ for variable plating cost per part cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 2 $ for fixed plating cost per part adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where deposit acceptance rate sits at 94% and the headline result is 11.14 $, this scenario comes in 4.36% above the baseline at 11.62 $.
  • Use it when quoting plated parts, comparing plating vendors, or evaluating whether to run plating in-house. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total plating cost per part cost: 11.62 $ (headline result)
  • Plating cost per part cost per unit: 6.46 $ / piece
  • Variable plating cost per part cost: 9.62 $
  • Fixed plating cost per part adder: 2 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Plating Cost per Part calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.