Tooling, Fixtures, Dies & Mold Economics calculator

Fixture ROI Calculator

Measure the cash return from a dedicated fixture over its remaining production program. Enter installed investment, annual savings, upkeep, program years and your required return.

What this calculator does

  • Compare the fixture investment with its net cash benefit over your remaining production program.

Formula used

  • Annual net savings = annual gross savings − annual upkeep
  • Cumulative net savings = annual net savings × project years
  • Project net benefit = cumulative net savings − initial investment
  • Project cash ROI = project net benefit ÷ initial investment × 100
  • ROI headroom = project cash ROI − required project cash ROI

Inputs explained

  • Fixture Investment: Installed design and build investment from the approved tool quote.
  • Annual Labor and Scrap Savings: Annual cash cost avoided versus the documented baseline process.
  • Annual Fixture Upkeep: Annual incremental maintenance and support attributable to this investment.
  • Remaining Project Life: Remaining production program duration from your approved business case.
  • Required Project Cash ROI: Your approval threshold over the same entered project life.

How to use the result

  • Best suited to dedicated fixture capital Request, fixture improvement proposal.
  • Discounting, financing, tax, depreciation and resale value are excluded. This project cash return is not an annualized return or accounting rate of return.

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

  • Is this an annual return? No. It is the net cash benefit over your entire entered project life divided by initial investment.
  • Can the return be negative? Yes. A negative return means cumulative net savings do not recover the initial investment within your selected horizon.
  • Should I include saved labor hours? Include their cash value only when the fixture reduces paid labor or releases capacity you can economically use. Document the baseline.
  • Where does the target come from? Enter your own investment approval requirement for this program. The default is illustrative and is not a recommended hurdle rate.

Related guides

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.