Estimate how long a predictive sensor investment may take to recover its upfront cost. Enter deployment spending, expected monthly gross savings, recurring operating cost, and first-year ramp efficiency to see simple payback, adjusted first-year benefit, annual net savings, and five-year net value.
Simple payback shows the number of months required for steady-state net savings to equal the initial investment. The first-year and five-year figures separately reflect the entered ramp assumption.
This is a cash-flow screening estimate. It does not include financing costs, taxes, depreciation, discount rates, resale value, or irregular replacements.
An initial investment of 50,000, monthly gross savings of 12,000, and monthly operating cost of 900 create 11,100 in monthly net savings. Simple payback is 4.5 months. At 70% first-year realization, adjusted year-one benefit is 93,240.
Include equipment, installation, integration, site preparation, commissioning, and initial training that must be paid before normal operation.
Payback must use net cash benefit. Recurring service, software, maintenance, and energy costs reduce the savings available to recover the investment.
The ramp percentage affects adjusted first-year benefit and five-year net value, while simple payback uses the entered steady-state monthly net savings.
The calculator reports that payback is not reached because the project does not produce positive monthly net savings.
No. It is a simple payback screen and does not discount future cash flows or include financing, tax, or depreciation effects.
| Input | Included cash flow |
|---|---|
| Initial investment | Equipment, integration, setup, and training |
| Gross savings | Labor, downtime, scrap, or avoided service cost |
| Operating cost | Service, software, energy, and maintenance |
| Ramp realization | First-year share of steady-state net savings |