LEAM

Value / Material savings calculator

Extra material adds up
with every print.

Where weak layer bonds require thicker walls, better bonding can make room to use less material. Adjust the example to your production and see the estimated annual savings and payback.

Find an example for your application

Your production

€/kg

Material selection updates the price and material reduction. Both remain editable.

kg/h
%

Enter the share of scheduled hours your machine spends printing. If your kg/h figure already includes downtime, use 100% here.

%

How much less material could the whole part use while meeting its requirements? Start with an estimate and confirm it against the design.

Compare reductions
Estimate from tensile strength

Compare strength across the layers (Z) with the strength you want to reach. Use values for the same unreinforced material grade, conditioning and test method.

MPa
MPa
%

Use those walls’ share of the original part weight. The estimate keeps the load and safety factor the same and assumes tensile strength determines wall thickness.

Choosing strength values ↗

Include overnight and weekend hours for builds that run continuously. Allow for downtime and gaps between jobs in “Time spent printing.”

h

24 hours × 365 days = 8,760 scheduled hours. With 80% spent printing, that gives 7,008 printing hours per year.

Planning period & running costs
years
€/yr

Enter any added energy, maintenance and consumable costs. We subtract these from your material savings.

YOUR ESTIMATED MATERIAL SAVINGS / YEAR

—

Enter your production figures to explore the savings.

—material savings per hour of current printing
—material savings per scheduled machine hour
Annual material savings—
Material saved / year—

When the savings add up

2 years
Return on investment over timeSimple return on the reference system investment.
Operating savings over 2 years—

Operating savings include extra running costs and are shown before the system investment. ROI includes that investment.

These are starting estimates, informed by published strength data where available; confirm the price and achievable material reduction for your specific material grade and part.

Does 20% more strength mean 20% less material?

If tensile strength alone determines a wall’s thickness, 20% higher allowable strength would allow about 16.7% less cross-sectional area at the same load and safety factor. The calculation is 1 − 1 / 1.20. For a wall of unchanged width and length, that means 16.7% less thickness and material.

Stiffness, buckling, sealing or machining allowance may still set the wall thickness. Count only the material the design can actually lose, across the whole part.

See how to choose comparable strength values ↗

How do you calculate the savings?

We compare the same annual number of accepted parts. The hourly figures count material savings only, using your current printing rate and schedule.

Material savings per printing hour
Current kg/h × pellet price × material reduction
Annual material savings
Savings per printing hour × scheduled hours × fraction of time spent printing
Annual savings after running costs
Annual material savings − extra running costs
Simple payback in years
Reference system investment ÷ annual savings after running costs
Simple return on investment (ROI), %
(Annual savings after running costs × years − reference investment) ÷ reference investment × 100

Payback and ROI use a reference system investment. Your final quotation depends on the configuration. The estimate uses constant prices and spreads production evenly across the year. Tax, financing and the time value of future savings are excluded.

Which costs should I enter?

Use your delivered pellet price and actual printing rate. For fiber-filled grades, choose the base polymer and adjust the price to the grade you buy. Selecting a material loads a starting price and material reduction; both can be adjusted. Your printing rate and operating schedule stay unchanged. See the basis for the material presets.

Add extra energy, maintenance and consumables under “Planning period & running costs.”

Beyond material savings

Material is not all
we save you.

Talk to our experts about shortening process design iterations, reducing quality assurance effort and the stock you carry to cover uncertain lead times. Together, we can quantify the potential value for your production, on top of the material savings.

Discuss your process

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