Does the shop rate include overhead?

Yes. Use your loaded build rate, including applicable machine costs and overhead. Add purchased hardware separately only when that rate excludes it.

Where do design and first article tryout costs go?

Enter them in the separate design and tryout cost input. Use zero for any amount already included in build hours or the loaded rate.

Is tooling cost per part my selling price?

No. It is the fixture cost divided by your production quantity. Part manufacturing cost, selling margin and future fixture maintenance are separate decisions.

Should I reduce build cost for idle time?

Include hours actually charged to this fixture, including its setup and fit work. Exclude unrelated shop time when estimating hours; an arbitrary productivity percentage can understate the fixture budget.

Tooling, Fixtures, Dies & Mold Economics calculator

Jig and Fixture Cost Calculator

Estimate a dedicated jig or fixture from build hours, your loaded shop rate, hardware and separate design costs. Enter production quantity and a budget to check tooling recovery and spending.

What this calculator does

Estimate total fixture cost, its tooling allowance per production part and the gap against your budget.

Formula used

Build labor cost = build hours × loaded shop rate
Total fixture cost = build labor cost + hardware and stock + separate design and tryout cost
Tooling cost per production part = total fixture cost ÷ production quantity
Budget headroom = fixture budget − total fixture cost

Inputs explained

Fixture Build Hours: Fabrication and assembly hours, including charged setup time, from your routing.
Loaded Build Shop Rate: Your build labor rate including applicable machine costs and overhead.
Hardware and Plate Stock Cost: Quoted clamps, locators, bushings, fasteners and plate stock for this fixture.
Separate Design and Tryout Cost: Engineering and qualification costs excluded from the build hours and rate.
Production Quantity: Committed parts assigned to recover this fixture's cost, from your plan.
Fixture Budget: Approved budget covering the same build, hardware, design and tryout scope.

How to use the result

Best suited to new fixture budget Review, production quote tooling allowance.
Future maintenance, replacements and financing are excluded. If fewer parts are produced, each part must recover more tooling cost. Reusable tooling shared across jobs needs a separately justified cost allocation.

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

Does the shop rate include overhead? Yes. Use your loaded build rate, including applicable machine costs and overhead. Add purchased hardware separately only when that rate excludes it.
Where do design and first article tryout costs go? Enter them in the separate design and tryout cost input. Use zero for any amount already included in build hours or the loaded rate.
Is tooling cost per part my selling price? No. It is the fixture cost divided by your production quantity. Part manufacturing cost, selling margin and future fixture maintenance are separate decisions.
Should I reduce build cost for idle time? Include hours actually charged to this fixture, including its setup and fit work. Exclude unrelated shop time when estimating hours; an arbitrary productivity percentage can understate the fixture budget.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.