Robotics & Automation calculator
Robot Scrap Savings Calculator
Turn a planned scrap reduction into the dollars a robot cell keeps in a year, net of the inspection it adds. You need annual volume, scrap cost per part, the captured reduction and the added inspection cost.
What this calculator does
- Annual scrap savings a robot workcell captures after the added inspection and containment cost, and the net per part.
Formula used
- Captured scrap savings ($/yr) = annual parts × scrap cost per part × captured reduction ÷ 100
- Net annual scrap savings ($/yr) = captured savings − added inspection and containment cost
- Savings per part ($/part) = net annual scrap savings ÷ annual parts
Inputs explained
- Annual Production Volume: Parts started in a year, from the production plan or forecast.
- Scrap Cost per Rejected Part: Material, labor and outside processing lost with each reject.
- Scrap Reduction Captured by the Robot: Share of the scrap rate the robot is expected to eliminate.
- Added Inspection and Containment Cost: Annual cost of the inspection, gauging or containment the robot adds.
How to use the result
- Best suited to building the quality half of an automation case, checking scrap savings after a robot launch.
- Credits scrap already avoided only; rework recovered short of scrap is not counted. New failure modes or scrap the robot introduces are outside the captured reduction you enter.
Current U.S. benchmarks
- Global copper trades at $13,543 per tonne (IMF via FRED, Jul 2026), up 38.6% in a year, and U.S. industrial electricity averages 9.77 cents per kWh. Both feed electrified-hardware unit economics.
Common questions
- Is the captured reduction the whole scrap rate? No. Enter only the share the robot actually removes, in percentage points of the starting scrap rate. A cell that cuts a 5% scrap rate to 3% captures 2 points.
- Which scrap cost goes into the per-part input? The full cost of one rejected part at the point it is scrapped: material, the labor already on it and any outside processing. A reject never earned margin, so do not use the sale price.
- Does the added inspection cost belong in this page? Yes, whenever the robot adds gauging, containment or extra quality labor. The scrap saving is only real after those recurring costs, so enter their annual total and the page nets them out.
- How does this feed a payback or ROI case? Use the net annual figure as one benefit line beside labor and throughput savings, then carry it into the payback or ROI page. Keep the inspection cost here so it is not counted twice.
Last reviewed 2026-10-01.