Realize an Immediate Return on Investment
Would you spend $1,000 to save $100,000?
To help calculate the potential savings in your company consider the following:
- Shop labor hourly rate
- Metrology Lab hourly labor rate
- Value of rejected product $ in-process
- Value of rejected product $ in final inspection
- Value of rework $ incurred throughout
- Annual warranty returns in $ or % of revenue
- Penalty $ for missed deadlines that could lead to a revoked contract $
- Value of your reputation if impacted by unsatisfied customers
- Annual Cost of Quality $ overall
- Make (design, material, labor, machine time, etc.) versus Buy (purchase) decisions for fixturing costs
- Value of standardized and modular fixturing equipment and processes that minimize personnel training
Many of the considerations listed here may be immeasurable, however each has an immense impact on your business. This ROI Calculator is designed to help you determine the savings between inspection techniques – the glue/tape method or outdated 1-piece grid plates versus the introduction of Inspection Arsenal® modular, quick-swap Loc-N-Load™ fixtures.
When using the ROI calculator, please note the following assumptions:
- Units = Input all time in minutes
- Fixture Setup = Setup and Breakdown of the fixture
- Fixture/Parts Load/Unload = Time to remove and replace parts on the fixture or replace the fixture if using multiple fixtures
Now that you’ve calculated the savings between outdated techniques and Inspection Arsenal® Loc-N-Load™ techniques, give some thought to the following, harder to measure costs.
- Value of rejected or reworked product in process and at final inspection
- Value of annual warranty returns
- Value of your reputation with dissatisfied customers
- Value of labor when less skilled employees can inspect, reduced learning curve.
- Cost to make fixtures (design, material, labor, machine and wait time) vs. buy ready-made Loc-N-Load™
- Penalties for missed deadlines/revoked contracts
- Annual cost of quality overall.
Kennebec saved $40K on parts fixtured with Inspection Arsenal®

“As part of its lean focus, Kennebec made this fixture system the standard, thereby reducing fixture and training costs and allowing production personnel to inspect parts. In order of priority, CMM programmers have designed 10 dedicated Loc-N-Load™ fixtures for some of their most complex parts. Bump roughly calculated a savings of nearly $40,000 in 2014 for the first seven of the 10 parts converted to Loc-N-Load™ plates.
“We are saving several minutes of inspection time each on these 5,500 pieces, which require 100% inspection. At our shop rate, the plate is paid for in little more than an hour.”
Trevy Bump
Quality Supervisor
Kennebec Technology
Methods Machine Tools saves money daily with lean approach to fixturing

“We are constantly shuffling between CMM training classes, customer demos, and turnkey inspections. The quick-swap features of Loc-N-Load™ and Open-Sight™ fixture systems from Inspection Arsenal™ make moving between these setups quite simple and efficient.
“Reducing the time it takes to build and break down inspection setups and faster recalibration means more time can be spent teaching about equipment features and programming techniques.”
Tom Oakes
Quality Applications Engineer
Zeiss
Triangle Manufacturing saved $12K on just one project

“The initial product launch of the implant consists of 3,120 complex parts requiring 100% inspection. Previously, the time to inspect was nearly one hour per piece. The new, leaner process now takes just 35 minutes. If a $100 an hour rate is used, the savings in the inspection cycle time alone for this part equates to roughly $40 per piece or a savings of approximately $125,000.
“Much greater savings being realized, but not calculated, are the savings in setup time and the reduction of expensive spindle downtime on the shop floor. This one project, once approved, will require the inspection of thousands more pieces and is just one of the hundreds of parts manufactured by Triangle that will now become a great deal more profitable.”
Ken Gredick
Engineering Manager
Triangle Manufacturing Company
PDQ, Inc. saved $12K with one new fixture

“The housing parts were previously measured in batches of two, with measurement taking approximately 40 minutes each. Using this new method, each part is measured in 11.25 minutes and the CMM can inspect eight parts in one setup. Using a conservative $100 per hour quality control rate, this yields a savings of $384 per batch. Because this eight-part inspection job repeats 10 times per year, the annual savings for this three-part family is $11,523.“
Kurt Stephens
Quaity Assurance Manager
PDQ, Inc.