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Dual-Servo Multi-Spindle Drilling & Tapping Machine →Review the published specifications and configuration options against your part drawing before requesting a quote.
Define the delivered unit before entering a price
Write one sentence defining what arrives at your production line: for example, an accepted component with specified drilled and tapped features, cleaned and packed to the agreed requirement. Check which of those tasks the subcontractor performs. Buying a drill-and-tap machine does not automatically bring inspection, deburring, cleaning or packing into the same equipment scope.
Compare the same material ownership and acceptance boundary. If both routes use identical buyer-supplied blanks, that common cost can be shown separately and excluded from the difference. If yield or material purchasing differs, the cost is no longer common. Express each route per accepted part, including the costs of expected rejected or reworked pieces where supported by evidence. Use actual quotations and trial observations for the investment decision.
Fill in the costs once, with a named period
The U.S. Small Business Administration's break-even guidance separates fixed and variable costs. This worksheet uses that distinction for a different question: the cost difference between two supply routes. Its formulas and example are an original purchasing illustration, not supplier pricing or a forecast. Use one currency and distinguish annual amounts from per-part amounts.
Worked example: a three-year, undiscounted cash comparison
Assume 30,000 accepted parts per year for three years. The outsourced route costs USD 1.60 per accepted part, including transport and incremental handling, with no separate fixed or initial expense in this example. The internal route costs USD 0.70 per accepted part plus USD 6,000 per year in additional fixed operating expenses. Its complete initial investment is assumed to be USD 45,000. These are invented round numbers for checking the method, not BINSING prices or achievable production costs.
Outsource total = 3 × 30,000 × 1.60 = USD 144,000. Internal total = 45,000 + 3 × (30,000 × 0.70 + 6,000) = USD 126,000. The internal route is USD 18,000 lower in this simplified three-year comparison. Annual operating cash difference is 30,000 × (1.60 − 0.70) − 6,000 = USD 21,000. With steady annual savings, simple payback is 45,000 ÷ 21,000 = approximately 2.14 years.
The illustration excludes financing, tax, discounting, residual value and changes in working capital. It assumes the internal route can provide the required accepted quantity and that its variable cost remains valid. It is not a discounted investment appraisal. Add any relevant omitted cash flows before approval; do not add depreciation to this cash total after already including the full initial purchase.
Keep feasibility beside the totals
The high-volume row is meaningful only if the proposed route has demonstrated sufficient capacity with the expected product mix. Also identify the consequence of equipment downtime and the external supplier's actual lead time and minimum order. A hybrid route may keep some work outsourced while bringing one stable operation in-house. Price that specific boundary rather than assuming the entire existing supplier invoice disappears.
Assign one owner to the quote inputs and another to process feasibility. Date each assumption and identify what would change the result: demand, service price, paid labor, yield or support cost. Submit the same accepted-part definition to potential equipment suppliers so the machine quotation can be compared with the service scope.