Do unbilled setup hours still cost money?

Yes. Include setup and fitting hours charged to this fixture, even if your customer does not pay for them separately.

Where should heat treatment go?

Enter a separate supplier charge as outside processing. Exclude it there if it is already included in the material quote or loaded rate.

Does this include fixture design?

Only when you include its charged cost in the entered scope. Keep a separate design budget when engineering is outside the fabrication work order.

Can I compare the result with an outside quote?

Yes, after matching scope. Include the same materials, subcontract operations, acceptance work and delivery charges in both estimates.

Tooling, Fixtures, Dies & Mold Economics calculator

Fixture Build Cost Calculator

Estimate the cost of fabricating and assembling one fixture. Use charged build hours, your loaded toolroom rate, component quotes and separate outside processing costs.

What this calculator does

Estimate fabrication, purchased components and outside processing for a fixture against its build budget.

Formula used

Build labor cost = build hours × loaded toolroom rate
Total build cost = build labor + material and hardware + outside processing
Budget headroom = fixture build budget − total build cost

Inputs explained

Fixture Build Hours: Charged machining, fabrication and assembly hours from the build routing.
Loaded Toolroom Rate: Posted shop rate including applicable machine costs and overhead.
Material and Hardware Cost: Quoted plate, locators, clamps and purchased components for this fixture.
Outside Processing Cost: Separate heat treatment, coating or subcontract machining quotes.
Fixture Build Budget: Approved budget for the same fabrication and purchased-component scope.

How to use the result

Best suited to fixture work order Approval, In-House fabrication estimate.
Separate design, validation and future maintenance are excluded unless included in the entered scope. This is a cost estimate; supplier profit and commercial selling price are separate.

Current U.S. benchmarks

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 14,378 furniture and related products establishments employing about 355,594 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

Do unbilled setup hours still cost money? Yes. Include setup and fitting hours charged to this fixture, even if your customer does not pay for them separately.
Where should heat treatment go? Enter a separate supplier charge as outside processing. Exclude it there if it is already included in the material quote or loaded rate.
Does this include fixture design? Only when you include its charged cost in the entered scope. Keep a separate design budget when engineering is outside the fabrication work order.
Can I compare the result with an outside quote? Yes, after matching scope. Include the same materials, subcontract operations, acceptance work and delivery charges in both estimates.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.