Tank, Vessel & Pressure Equipment Fabrication worked example

Fabricated Vessel Cost at 58% billable and recovery factor: a worked example

Suppose billable and recovery factor falls to 58%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. The Fabricated Vessel Cost calculation builds the labor-driven cost of manufacturing a tank or pressure vessel from shop hours, a fully loaded labor rate, a recovery factor, and fixed engineering or setup charges.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Vessel fabrication hours: 100 hours (held at the documented default)
  • Loaded shop labor rate: 45 $ / hour (held at the documented default)
  • Billable/recovery factor: 58 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 80)
  • Fixed engineering and setup cost: 250 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Fabricated Vessel Cost cost = quantity × rate × capture factor + fixed cost.
  • Weighted cost works out to 2,860 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Per piece value works out to 28.6 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Captured value works out to 2,610 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed adjustment works out to 250 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where billable and recovery factor sits at 80% and the headline result is 3,850 $, this scenario comes in 25.71% below the baseline at 2,860 $.
  • It multiplies fabrication hours by the loaded labor rate and a recovery factor, adds fixed setup cost, and divides by quantity for a per-piece figure. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Weighted cost: 2,860 $ (headline result)
  • Per piece value: 28.6 $ / piece
  • Captured value: 2,610 $
  • Fixed adjustment: 250 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Fabricated Vessel Cost calculator, set billable and recovery factor to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.