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Calculator · Cost of manual operation

What does a manual warehouse cost you?

We don't promise you numbers. We show you your own: you enter your current operation's data, and the calculator shows you how much you pay every year — and what the payback on an automation investment would look like, based on your assumptions, not ours.

Why this works backward compared to other calculators: the cost of your operation today is arithmetic, not marketing. Tomorrow's savings depend on the project — that's why you set the savings assumptions yourself, with sliders, instead of us imposing them.
1Your operation today

Current operation data

All values below are example values — replace them with your own numbers. All costs are in EUR, at total cost-to-employer level.

Staff

The operators involved in material handling: forklift operators, material handlers, checkers.
at 3 shifts, the legal night shift premium (25%) is added automatically
with continuous operation, 3 shifts per day means 4 staff rotations — the fourth covers days off and rotation
—EUR / month
approximate conversion (standard contract, no special deductions); meal vouchers are not included — you can add them to the gross amount for more precision

Turnover & absenteeism

The people who leave, the days people are out, and the leave you need to cover with someone else.
% of total operators who leave in a year
EUR — job postings, interviews, onboarding gear, reduced productivity at the start
the allowance is 75% of base pay, covered by the employer
vacation pay is already included in salary — only the coverage is counted (if applicable)
checked: adds the cost of covering sick leave and vacation days, at the normal rate

Errors & damage

Wrong deliveries, incidents, damaged goods and racking.
EUR — return + redelivery + retailer penalty
EUR — goods, racking, downtime, investigation
EUR
Don't have an exact figure? Use your best estimate — you can change it anytime, the result updates instantly.

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2Your result
Annual cost of manual operation
0 EUR
per year, every year
Over the next 10 years, with no changes: 0 EUR
Staff (salaries + night shift premium)
—
Turnover + sick leave
—
Delivery errors
—
Incidents + goods damage
—
3Investment simulator

Simulate the investment — on your assumptions

Choose the investment level and set for yourself how much of the costs you think would disappear. We don't promise percentages — the real project is sized on your flow data. As a benchmark: at a pasta factory in Parma, Italy, the volume handled today by the automated systems would require around 400 people for manual handling. The system is run by 20. Nobody was laid off: as automation grew, no new hires were needed.

3,000,000 EUR
0.5M3M6M9M12M15M
60%
80%
5%
These are your assumptions, not our promises. In a real project, the percentages are calculated from your flows: pallets per hour, items, shifts, layout. The sliders show you the result's sensitivity, not a guarantee.

Why the forklift fleet doesn't appear in the calculation: automation replaces equipment with equipment — the cost of the conventional fleet disappears, but the new system has its own operating costs. We deliberately let them cancel out, instead of artificially inflating the savings.
Net annual savings
—
Payback
—
Net gain over 10 years
—
Cumulative savings Investment
What the calculator can't measure

The costs you don't see on any line item

The numbers above are the measurable part. But there are real costs that no calculator can honestly estimate — and that, in practice, tip the decision more than any percentage.

Operation downtime

A day when the warehouse doesn't ship doesn't cost "a day's work" — it costs missed orders, penalties, and trucks waiting. It's why fast service matters more than the purchase price.

Lost customers

The retailer who gets a third wrong delivery doesn't send a penalty invoice — they move volume to another supplier. The cost shows up only the following year, in sales.

Dependence on the labor market

When you can't find forklift operators for three months, the cost isn't the unpaid salary — it's the capacity you can't sell. No budget line captures that.

Management time

Hours of coordination, shift planning, managing conflicts and absences — time that doesn't show up in the P&L, but that's missing from growing the business.

Your people

Hard physical labor, the cold, night shifts — automation doesn't just eliminate costs, it eliminates the reasons people leave. Those who stay move into supervisory roles, not lifting.

Want real numbers, not simulated ones?

The simulation showed you the sensitivity. The real numbers come from your project's data: flows, pallets per hour, items, layout. Fill them in and get an initial assessment — no commitment.

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