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Large Character / DOD Inkjet

DOD / LCM Running Cost Calculator

A drop-on-demand inkjet technology optimized for large, bold characters visible from a distance, commonly used for shipping marks and bulk product coding. Enter your own volumes and prices below to get the true monthly running cost and cost per print.

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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

INR

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.

prints

Output of ONE printer per day. Total volume = this × Number of Printers.

hrs

Used for optional electricity cost, if enabled below.

chars

Drives every consumable cost below — a longer message uses proportionally more ink/ribbon.

Ink

DOD ink tanks typically range 750ml to 5 litres. Ink usage is driven by characters printed against your ink supplier's rated "characters per bottle/tank" figure — check your datasheet. A public reference for DOD suggests roughly 1-3 ml/hour for simple text as a rough industry figure — treat that as a starting point to verify with your supplier, not a fact, since it varies by message complexity and printhead.

Which bottle size your characters-per-bottle rate below corresponds to.

chars/bottle

Supplier-rated figure for the bottle size selected above.

INR

Labor & Maintenance

Enter these exactly as they appear on your actual invoices/budget — the total figure for your whole operation. Nothing here is multiplied by printer count.
INR
INR
INR
INR

Feeds the Risk Summary and Cost-Saving Opportunities panels — does not change the cost totals directly.

Downtime & Rejection

hrs

Whole-operation total (e.g. "the line was down 4 hours this month"), not per printer.

INR
%

Applied automatically to total volume across all printers.

INR
Cost per Print
₹0.134 INR
Daily Running Cost
₹2,688
Monthly Running Cost
₹69,883
Annual Running Cost
₹8,38,600
3-Year Cost
₹25,15,800
5-Year Cost
₹41,93,000

Consumable Breakdown / Month

  • ink₹6,500

Risk Summary

  • LowNo major cost or reliability red flags detected from the entered data.
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DOD / LCM running cost: common questions

How is DOD / LCM running cost calculated?

Ink cost = monthly characters printed ÷ supplier-rated characters per ink bottle × bottle price. Maintenance (AMC, spares, preventive), operator, downtime and rejection costs are added, and the monthly total ÷ prints per month gives cost per print.

What consumables does a DOD / LCM printer use?

Large Character / DOD Inkjet typically uses: Ink (oil or solvent-based depending on model).

What hidden costs should I include for DOD / LCM?

Commonly missed for DOD / LCM: Higher ink usage per print due to bold character size; and Nozzle wear from porous/dusty substrates. Downtime and rejection from bad codes apply to every technology and are often larger than the consumable bill.

When is DOD / LCM not the right choice?

When fine text, small barcodes, or premium print quality is required — TIJ/TTO/Piezo are better fits.

Next: turn running cost into a buying decision

TCO Calculator Total cost of ownership over 1, 3 and 5 years.TCO Wizard Compare CIJ vs TIJ vs TTO vs laser on total cost.Technology Comparison Speed, quality, maintenance and cost tiers side by side.Knowledge Hub Guides on cost per print, hidden costs and vendor checks.