Your automation quote isn't the price. See the real number.
ROI makes a system look cheap. Total Cost of Ownership shows what you'll actually pay over its life. Enter a quote — the gap appears, line by line.
- Turn any quote into its true multi-year cost — live
- See the nine costs ROI quietly leaves out
- Compare buying it outright vs. Formic Full Service
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Enter the quote. Watch the real cost appear.
ROI counts the sticker and the savings. TCO counts everything else — install, parts, downtime, programming, and the people who keep it running. Set the inputs to your deal; the math updates as you go.
What does the proposal say?
The sticker is the smallest number you'll see. Equipment and automation proposals usually list only the hardware — the rest shows up after you've signed.
What makes it look like a win?
ROI is quick, familiar, and misleading. It compares the savings to the purchase price — and stops there, ignoring the cost of actually owning the system.
On paper, that's a +329% return over the horizon — which is exactly why ROI sells.
Buying does carry one real upside — you write the system off. That's a $43,750 first-year depreciation benefit (Section 179 / bonus) we credit back against the TCO.
The costs that never make the proposal.
Nine of them hit a bought system — install, change orders, rigging, spares, repairs, downtime, programming, in-house engineering, and the risk it's obsolete before ROI lands. We size the first set from your price; you set the rest.
≈ $30,000 / year in lost production — each major event valued in the $10k–$50k range these systems see in the field.
Same machine. Very different bill.
The numbers above are the difference between two ways to put a robot on your floor. One bets on ROI. The other is built for the lowest Total Cost of Ownership.
The ROI bet
- $250K+ in capital out the door on day one
- Pays for freight, rigging, and integrator install
- Preventive maintenance and parts on its own dime
- Waits on the integrator's schedule when it breaks
- Pays extra to program every new SKU
- Buys new equipment when the line changes
- Carries all the risk for the system's output
ROI looks good on paper — real costs spiral.
The TCO play
- $0 upfront CapEx — capital stays in the business
- Freight, rigging, install, and optimization included
- Preventive maintenance, parts, and training included
- Corrective response within one hour — included
- New SKUs and recipes programmed — included
- Equipment adapts or swaps as the line changes
- Formic owns full responsibility for output
Predictable cost, sustained performance — the lowest TCO.
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