How do you calculate the cost of an autoclave cycle?

Multiply the cycle hours by the autoclave's burdened rate and by the job's share of the load, then add the job's setup and quality cost. 14 hours at 360 an hour for a dedicated cycle is 5,040; with 950 of setup and quality, 5,990, or 427.86 a cycle hour, the Autoclave Cycle Cost calculator's own example.

How do I split a shared autoclave load between jobs?

Give each job the share of the usable vessel its tooling and parts take. A job filling half the vessel carries 50% of the vessel cost. The shares in one cycle should not pass 100%; the Check column says so if they do.

What is the empty capacity cost?

The vessel cost of the space no job used: cycle hours x rate x (1 - load). The autoclave runs and costs the same whether it is full or not, so a part-empty cycle is paid for but charged to no job.

What belongs in the burdened rate?

Energy, direct labour, maintenance and vessel depreciation, divided by the hours the autoclave can run: the rate your cost accounting applies to work orders, not the power bill alone.

Does it include bagging, tooling and rework?

No. Bagging consumables, tooling amortisation, thermocouples and rework sit outside the cycle rate; carry them with their own costs.

Does the workbook use macros?

No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test cycles and jobs and shows Self-check: PASS.

Industry Cost Kits

Autoclave Cycle Cost Excel Template

A job's autoclave cost = cycle hours × burdened rate × its share of the load + its own setup and quality cost. Log every cure cycle and the jobs that shared it, and see each job's cost per hour and per part, what each cycle charged to jobs, and what its empty space cost.

Free, and a plain .xlsx with no macros to enable. A CSV with live formulas and a printed how-to guide come with it.

Overview

This autoclave cycle cost template is a working Excel workbook for composites cost estimators, production planners and cost accountants. Each cure cycle is one row with its autoclave and cycle hours, and each job in the cycle is a row on Jobs with its share of the vessel, the parts it put in and its own setup, tooling load and quality cost. The workbook charges each job its share of the vessel cost, rolls the jobs up to the cycle, and shows what the empty space in each cycle cost. It ships with ten cycles and sixteen jobs on two autoclaves of a fictional composites shop, so every tile and chart is filled in when you open it.

In the example a dedicated 14 hour spar cycle on the large autoclave at 360 an hour costs 5,040, and 5,990 with 950 of setup and quality, 427.86 a cycle hour. Two rush fairing jobs ran the small autoclave alone at 40% and 30% full, leaving 2,184 of vessel cost charged to no job. A failed vacuum check stretched a door cycle to 18 hours at 72% load, the largest single empty capacity cost at 1,814. Across the ten cycles the shop charged 39,120 to jobs, paid 6,950 for empty space and ran at a 79.8% load factor against an 80% target.

Bagging consumables, tooling amortisation, thermocouples and rework are not in the cycle cost. The download is a plain .xlsx with no macros. A CSV with live formulas is also included for other tools; the cycles, dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx.

What this template includes

Setup sheet with your company and currency, the autoclaves with their burdened operating rate per cycle hour, and the target load factor with its near band
Cycles table, one row per cure cycle: date, autoclave, cure schedule and cycle hours; per cycle the vessel cost, load, cost charged to jobs, empty capacity cost, setup and quality, jobs and a status in words, with a Check column
Jobs table, one row per job in a cycle: part, parts in the load, share of the load and setup and quality cost; per job the chargeable and total cycle cost, cost per cycle hour and cost per part
Dashboard with four tiles (cycles, charged to jobs, empty capacity cost, load factor), where each cycle's cost went, load against target, and the cycle table
Method sheet with every formula, and a Verify sheet that re-checks the formulas against an independent reference and the Autoclave Cycle Cost calculator (Self-check: PASS)
CSV with live formulas for the Jobs table; the cycles, dashboard, charts, dropdowns and self-check are in the .xlsx

Suggested use case

Use it to cost cure cycles to work orders, to split a shared autoclave load fairly between jobs, or to see how much rush jobs and part-empty cycles cost in vessel time that no job pays for.

How to use it

On Setup, type your company and currency, list your autoclaves with their burdened rate per cycle hour, and set the target load factor.
On Cycles, give each cure cycle a row: date, autoclave, cure schedule and cycle hours.
On Jobs, give each job in a cycle a row: part, parts in the load, share of the load and its setup and quality cost. Fix anything the Check columns name.
Open the Dashboard: what each cycle cost, what was charged to jobs, the empty capacity and the load against target.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate the cost of an autoclave cycle?: Multiply the cycle hours by the autoclave's burdened rate and by the job's share of the load, then add the job's setup and quality cost. 14 hours at 360 an hour for a dedicated cycle is 5,040; with 950 of setup and quality, 5,990, or 427.86 a cycle hour, the Autoclave Cycle Cost calculator's own example.
How do I split a shared autoclave load between jobs?: Give each job the share of the usable vessel its tooling and parts take. A job filling half the vessel carries 50% of the vessel cost. The shares in one cycle should not pass 100%; the Check column says so if they do.
What is the empty capacity cost?: The vessel cost of the space no job used: cycle hours x rate x (1 - load). The autoclave runs and costs the same whether it is full or not, so a part-empty cycle is paid for but charged to no job.
What belongs in the burdened rate?: Energy, direct labour, maintenance and vessel depreciation, divided by the hours the autoclave can run: the rate your cost accounting applies to work orders, not the power bill alone.
Does it include bagging, tooling and rework?: No. Bagging consumables, tooling amortisation, thermocouples and rework sit outside the cycle rate; carry them with their own costs.
Does the workbook use macros?: No. It is a plain .xlsx with ordinary formulas, tables and native charts. The Verify sheet re-checks the formulas against fixed test cycles and jobs and shows Self-check: PASS.