Thinking about buying a 3D printer for your department? Let’s make an honest cost analysis (no bullsh#t):

When a company decides to implement its own 3D printing infrastructure, it is often with the idea of saving costs and gaining greater control over its processes. However, the actual costs associated with in-house 3D printing are often underestimated, leading to investments that don’t always yield profitability.

We’ve created a cost analysis calculator based on our experience managing our own print farm, with thousands of hours of combined operation. As a service provider, we can’t afford to say, “Well, this doesn’t need to be profitable because it’s part of our innovation,” because for us, numbers are everything, and process implementation is merely a tool.

In this article, we will explore the various components of the costs associated with in-house 3D printing and provide a detailed illustration of the figures.

Actual Costs of In-House 3D Printing

The costs associated with in-house 3D printing can be divided into eight main categories:

Investment and Depreciation Costs

Purchasing industrial-quality 3D printers represents a significant initial investment. Moreover, these machines have a limited lifespan and must be depreciated over time. However, many opt for smaller investments in affordable yet powerful equipment such as modern FDM printers. We’ll discuss this as well. In addition to equipment investment, space adaptation and infrastructure preparation are necessary, with expenses increasing proportionally for more specialized equipment.

Example: A mid-to-high-range SLS printer, along with post-processing equipment, can cost €45,000 and has a lifespan of 5 or more years. However, due to rapid obsolescence, we account for it over 3 years, translating to €15,000 annually in depreciation, excluding updates or unforeseen costs.

Personnel Costs

Operating 3D printers requires skilled personnel for preparation, supervision, and maintenance. This includes technicians and specialized engineers.

Example: A skilled technician in Germany may cost around €48,000 annually, including salary, insurance, and other benefits.

Maintenance Costs

3D printers require regular maintenance, including cleaning, part replacements, calibration, and technical services. These costs are usually proportional to machine usage and their initial cost.

Example: Maintaining an SLS printer can cost around €8,000 annually, excluding major repairs.

Material Costs

Often considered the only cost when people say, “This part cost us 20 cents.” However, materials like nylon powder for SLS or high-quality filaments for FDM are not cheap. Additionally, not all material can be reused. We estimate an average waste rate of 10%.

Example: Recyclable powder for SLS can range from €100 to €300 per kg.

Preparation, Control, and Material Replacement Costs

Operating machines requires intermittent supervision to prevent failed prints and limit potential equipment damage. Before printing, there is a preparation phase involving systematic checks, loading new material, cleaning residue from previous processes, storing replaced material, and even drying incoming material. The magic of pressing a button and waiting happens only after an operator has invested their time in these steps.

Example: A low-volume professional user prints an average of 3 kg per month, translating to about 30 print cycles. If we calculate 30 minutes per cycle for these steps, that’s at least 15 hours of work monthly, costing approximately €1,200 for the calculated salary.

Post-Processing:

Whether it’s removing supports and sanding, powder removal and sandblasting, or resin cleaning and curing, all technologies have their post-processing times, which often also involve machinery and consumables.

Example: For an optimistic calculation averaging 30 minutes of post-processing effort per print cycle, the model user requires 15 annual hours of work.

Stock Management Costs

While minor, there is a need to control available stock, generate new orders, and handle administrative management of these tasks.

Example: For the professional user mentioned above, this amounts to an optimistic 2 hours of work monthly.

Failure Rate

Print failures lead to material and time wastage, significantly increasing operational costs. This is especially critical when cascading to all costs incurred in the process. We estimate that for a semi-casual professional user (1-3 kg of printed material monthly), this rate reaches 50% in many cases.

Example: A 50% failure rate in monthly production can result in losses exceeding €1,500 in material and time.

We’ve discussed high-end printers like SLS and SLA, which may suggest that operational expenses are only high in these cases. A large portion of companies print with affordable, next-generation FDM equipment priced between €1,000 and €5,000 per unit. We previously mentioned this as the elephant in the room. Let’s look at an example of the monthly costs of running a micro internal department based on 3 low-cost FDM printers:

In this chart, we can see how costs are distributed by type, with personnel expenses standing out prominently.

It’s also interesting to understand what this entails over a year, representing the actual cost of printers worth a couple of thousand euros that print parts for 20 cents.

It’s risky to apply a casual calculation based on hobbyist use of a technology we all love when it needs to be introduced in a business environment where investments and personnel expenses are expected to generate measurable returns. Let’s now do the same exercise with an advanced 3D printing department comprising 3 next-generation, affordable FDM printers, a mid-range SLS setup, and a mid-range SLA setup, using market prices from the most popular manufacturers in Europe and worldwide for each technology.

In the table, we highlight the actual price per kg as well as associated personnel costs. In many cases, such a department requires a full-time employee, significantly raising this calculation. Additionally, the learning curve costs, not to mention training provided as part of equipment sales packages, are not included here.

Here, the cost distribution changes significantly, with material depreciation taking the largest share, followed by labor costs. If a 5- or 7-year infrastructure depreciation is applied, as often suggested by salespeople, go ahead. This is the reality for those investing in this equipment. It’s challenging to justify a replacement due to obsolescence after 3 years. Later, we see clients printing sausage-like layers on equipment they bought 10 years ago, with high operating costs, material licenses, etc. Those buying a printer today should be prepared to live in the Bronze Age in 7 years.

Finally, this graph, which every executive director should demand, shows numbers that will make many feet tingle. We’re talking about annual real costs of over €100,000, in an ultra-efficient use scenario for a service provider. This scenario is practically unreplicable in an internal company department. To put it into perspective, this amount could maintain a fleet of 14 premium-class company cars. Investing half of this money in marketing can put a company ahead of its competition if done well.

In the comments, I will offer the possibility of obtaining the calculation table to anyone who is interested. I hope it has been a valuable read.

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