Introduction: The “Hidden” Cost of the Safety Door
Walk onto any factory floor using a standalone laser, and you will see a common bottleneck.
An operator opens the safety door, places a part, closes the door, waits 3 seconds for the mark, opens the door, and removes the part.
It seems efficient. But let’s look at the math:
- Marking Time:3 seconds.
- Loading/Unloading Time:12 seconds.
- The Reality:Your expensive laser machine is sitting idle 80% of the time.
As you scale from marking 50 parts a day to 5,000, this “handling time” eats your profit margin. This guide will help you calculate exactly when it makes financial sense to automate.