# SMT Placement Cost Per Board Calculator

> Source: https://netray.co/tools/smt-placement-cost-per-board-calculator
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Free Tools

## Short answer

Convert placement counts and rated CPH into realistic cycle time, boards per hour and placement cost per board and per placement, including job setup.

## Category

electronics

## Industry

Electronics Manufacturing

## Audience

- EMS estimator
- Process engineer
- Cost engineer

## Tool

**Kind:** calculator

**Currency:** $

**Inputs:**

#### Chip and passive placements

**Key:** n_chip

**Type:** number

**Default:** 180

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 5

**Unit:** per board

**Help:** 0402 to 1206 passives, small SOT and similar high speed parts.

#### IC and fine pitch placements

**Key:** n_ic

**Type:** number

**Default:** 25

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** per board

**Help:** QFP, QFN, BGA, SOIC and other parts placed on the fine pitch head.

#### Odd form placements

**Key:** n_odd

**Type:** number

**Default:** 8

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** per board

**Help:** Connectors, shields, large electrolytics and other slow placements.

#### Rated CPH, chip parts

**Key:** cph_chip

**Type:** number

**Default:** 20000

**Min:** 1

**Step:** 500

**Unit:** CPH

**Help:** Machine datasheet rated speed under ideal conditions.

#### Rated CPH, fine pitch parts

**Key:** cph_ic

**Type:** number

**Default:** 4500

**Min:** 1

**Step:** 100

**Unit:** CPH

#### Rated CPH, odd form parts

**Key:** cph_odd

**Type:** number

**Default:** 900

**Min:** 1

**Step:** 50

**Unit:** CPH

#### Placement efficiency

**Key:** line_eff

**Type:** slider

**Default:** 65

**Min:** 30

**Max:** 95

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** %

**Help:** Realized speed as a share of rated, covering feeder changes, vision checks, nozzle changes and micro stops.

#### Board handling and fiducial time

**Key:** handling_sec

**Type:** number

**Default:** 18

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 1

**Unit:** sec

**Help:** Conveyor transfer, clamp and board fiducial reads per board or array.

#### Placement machine rate

**Key:** machine_rate

**Type:** number

**Default:** 110

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 5

**Unit:** $/hour

**Help:** Machine depreciation, operator share, power, maintenance and floor space.

#### Job setup time

**Key:** setup_min

**Type:** number

**Default:** 45

**Min:** 0

**Step:** 5

**Unit:** minutes

**Help:** Feeder loading and verification for the job.

#### Boards in the job

**Key:** qty

**Type:** number

**Default:** 500

**Min:** 1

**Step:** 25

**Unit:** boards

**Outputs:**

#### Placement time per board

**Key:** place_s

**Expr:** (n_chip / (cph_chip * line_eff / 100) + n_ic / (cph_ic * line_eff / 100) + n_odd / (cph_odd * line_eff / 100)) * 3600

**Format:** decimal

**Description:** Seconds, at realized speed.

#### Machine cycle per board

**Key:** cycle_s

**Expr:** place_s + handling_sec

**Format:** decimal

**Description:** Seconds including handling.

#### Boards per hour

**Key:** bph

**Expr:** 3600 / cycle_s

**Format:** decimal

#### Run cost per board

**Key:** run_cost

**Expr:** cycle_s / 3600 * machine_rate

**Format:** currency

#### Setup cost per board

**Key:** setup_unit

**Expr:** setup_min / 60 * machine_rate / qty

**Format:** currency

#### Placement cost per board

**Key:** total_cost

**Expr:** run_cost + setup_unit

**Format:** currency

**Primary:** true

#### Cost per placement

**Key:** per_pl

**Expr:** total_cost / (n_chip + n_ic + n_odd)

**Format:** currency

**Primary:** true

**Description:** Useful to compare against per-placement pricing in a quote.

#### Machine hours for the job

**Key:** job_hours

**Expr:** cycle_s * qty / 3600 + setup_min / 60

**Format:** hours

**Chart:**

#### Placement cost per board vs placement efficiency

**Type:** line

**X:** line_eff

**From:** 30

**To:** 95

**Steps:** 27

**Series:**

- total_cost

**Disclaimer:** Single placement machine model. On a multi machine line the slowest machine sets the cycle; run the calculation for the bottleneck machine. Rated CPH follows each vendor's own test method.

## Content

**Intro:** Rated CPH on a datasheet is a ceiling, not a quoting basis. This calculator turns placement counts by component class into realized cycle time and a cost per board and per placement, so a quote reflects how fast the machine actually runs the job.

**Sections:**

#### How to use it

**Body:** Count placements, not unique part numbers, and split them into chip parts, fine pitch parts and odd form parts, because each runs at a very different speed. Enter each head's rated CPH from the machine datasheet and a realistic placement efficiency, typically well below 100 percent once you account for feeder changeovers, vision retries, nozzle swaps and small stops. Add handling time per board or array, the machine hourly rate and the job setup time. The result is cost per board, cost per placement and total machine hours for the job.

#### The formulas

**Body:** Placement time for each class is placements divided by (rated CPH times efficiency), multiplied by 3,600 to give seconds. Total cycle is the sum across classes plus handling. Run cost is cycle seconds divided by 3,600 times the machine rate. Setup per board is setup minutes divided by 60 times the rate, divided by quantity. Everything is arithmetic on your own inputs, so it is auditable against your MES cycle time data.

**Bullets:**

- t = placements / (CPH x efficiency) x 3600 sec
- Cycle = sum of class times + handling
- Boards per hour = 3600 / cycle
- Cost = cycle/3600 x rate + setup/qty

#### Reading the result

**Body:** Compare cost per placement with what the quote template or your competitors charge. If the figure is far above the chip part average, odd form placements or low efficiency are usually the reason. The sweep shows cost against efficiency: moving from 50 to 70 percent can cut run cost by a quarter, which tells you whether feeder standardization or kitting accuracy is worth the effort. Remember this covers only the placement machine; printing, reflow, AOI and manual work are separate lines.

#### Common mistakes

**Body:** Using rated CPH as realized speed overstates throughput and underprices low volume work, where setup and handling dominate. Counting each component reel instead of each placement understates time on high count boards. Another error is applying the machine rate to the whole line when only one machine is the bottleneck. Finally, do not forget multi-up arrays: handling time is per array, so divide by boards per array if you enter per-board handling.

**Bullets:**

- Count placements, not line items
- Use measured efficiency from MES where you have it
- Handling is per array, not necessarily per board
- Do not mix this with a whole-line rate

**Cta:** If you want measured efficiency and placement counts pulled from your MES and ERP into quotes automatically, we can build that integration, including on-prem deployments.

**Faq:**

#### What placement efficiency should I use?

**Answer:** Start at 55 to 75 percent for mixed high-mix work and compare against your own machine logs. High-volume, stable products with few changeovers can run higher. Measured data from your placement machine beats any rule of thumb.

#### Why split chip and IC placements?

**Answer:** Rated CPH differs by an order of magnitude between chip shooters and fine pitch or odd form heads. A single average speed hides that, and misprices boards that are heavy on connectors or BGA.

#### Does this include solder paste printing and reflow?

**Answer:** No. It prices only the placement machine. Add printing, reflow, AOI, X-ray, test, manual assembly and material handling as separate lines in your quote.

#### How do I handle a multi-up array?

**Answer:** Enter placements for the whole array, boards in the job as the number of arrays, and handling per array. Then divide the resulting cost by boards per array to get cost per board.

## Search terms

smt placement cost per board, cost per placement smt, smt machine rate calculator, cph to cycle time, smt assembly cost calculator, pick and place cost estimate, smt line efficiency calculator, pcb assembly placement cost

---
Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json