Running Cost Calculator
Fields below change automatically based on the technology you select — only what's relevant to your printer is shown. No hidden multipliers, no ml-per-print guesswork — consumption is driven by characters printed against your supplier's rated figure, the same way real running-cost worksheets are built.
Technology & Context
Changes which fields appear below.
Real manufacturers researched for this technology — picking one filters the Model list below. Brand names are trademarks of their respective owners, shown for reference only.
Machine & Line Setup
Multiplied by Number of Printers below to get total investment.
This is the multiplier — it scales machine price and total volume.
Not used in any calculation below — shown for your own planning reference only.
Output of ONE printer per day. Total volume = this × Number of Printers.
Drives make-up/solvent fluid cost below — it evaporates over time, not per print.
Drives every consumable cost below — a longer message uses proportionally more ink/ribbon.
Ink & Consumables (CIJ)
Supplier-rated figure from your ink datasheet.
Time-driven, not print-driven — solvent evaporates whether or not the machine is printing.
Labor & Maintenance
Feeds the Risk Summary and Cost-Saving Opportunities panels — does not change the cost totals directly.
Downtime & Rejection
Whole-operation total (e.g. "the line was down 4 hours this month"), not per printer.
Applied automatically to total volume across all printers.
Consumable Breakdown / Month
- ink₹501
- makeup₹4,550
- cleaning₹300
Risk Summary
- LowNo major cost or reliability red flags detected from the entered data.
Frequently asked questions
How is the running cost of a coding printer calculated?
Monthly running cost = consumables (ink, make-up/solvent, cartridges, ribbon or labels) + maintenance (AMC, spares and preventive maintenance spread per month) + operator cost + downtime cost + rejection cost. The daily, annual, 3-year and 5-year figures are scaled from that monthly total.
How do I calculate cost per print?
Cost per print = total monthly running cost ÷ number of prints per month. Because consumption scales with characters printed, message length matters as much as print count.
Why is make-up fluid calculated by hours, not prints, for CIJ?
CIJ make-up (solvent) evaporates whenever the printer is running, whether or not it is printing, so its consumption is driven by running hours. Ink, by contrast, is driven by the number of characters printed.
What hidden costs should I include?
Downtime per hour, product rejections from bad codes, operator time and printhead wear (for TTO) are often larger than the consumable bill. The calculator shows them separately as hidden costs.