Mold Amortization Calculator
Calculate the injection mold cost per part, break-even point and total tool cost including maintenance and financing charges. Key data for investment decisions and production quoting.
Input Parameters
Results
Fill in the data and click Calculate
ARGUS automatically calculates mold amortization in the context of full production costs
Mold amortization is a key cost component for small and medium batches — ARGUS combines it with unit cost analysis and optimizes them together.
How do we calculate mold amortization?
Mold amortization distributes the tooling investment cost across produced parts. The injection mold is typically the largest upfront investment in a project — from a few thousand EUR for a simple single-cavity mold to several hundred thousand for complex multi-cavity molds with hot runners. Correct amortization is critical for quoting and investment decisions.
The calculator accounts for the full cost of mold ownership: purchase cost, maintenance (inspections, repairs, insert replacement) and financing costs (interest on capital).
Cper_part = Ctotal / N
Nbreak-even = Ctotal / profitper_part
Cmold — mold cost [EUR]
maint — maintenance cost [%]
N — production volume [pcs]
profit — profit per part [EUR]
The break-even point is the number of parts at which revenue covers the mold cost. For a mold costing 50,000 EUR and a profit of 0.10 EUR/part, break-even is 500,000 pcs. Mold lifetime depends on mold material, processed polymer and maintenance — typically 200,000–2,000,000 cycles.
Investment Decisions
Mold amortization is critical when making decisions:
Cold vs hot runner — hot runner more expensive, but eliminates waste
Steel vs aluminum — aluminum cheaper, but shorter lifetime
In-house vs outsourcing — break-even analysis
Mold Lifetime depends on: mold material (P20 steel: 500K–1M cycles, H13: 1M–2M), processed polymer (GF reduces lifetime 2–5×), maintenance (regular inspections extend lifetime by 30–50%). Maintenance costs are typically 5–15% of mold cost over its service life.
Tooling Cost Optimization
For small batches (<10,000 pcs) consider an aluminum or prototype mold — 3–5× lower cost, lifetime of 10,000–50,000 cycles. For high volumes (>1M pcs) invest in a multi-cavity mold with hot runner — higher upfront cost, but the lowest cost per part.
ARGUS automatically calculates amortization and optimizes investment decisions
See for yourself — book a presentation and explore the investment analysis in ARGUS.