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Facility costs explained — allocation is not saving

Rent, floor space and overhead must be allocated, but they rarely change with a machine.

9 minPrint Profit Navigator EditorialUpdated 05/07/2026

TL;DR

  • Allocation distributes existing cost; it never reduces it.
  • Floor space freed is only a saving if you actually give up or sublet the space.
  • Print Profit Navigator excludes allocated facility cost from ROI benefits by design.

A machine that occupies 12 m² less is often presented as saving €2,400 a year in rent. Unless the lease shrinks or the space is sublet, the landlord invoices exactly the same amount.

Correct allocation

Facility cost per production hour
Rate = (Rent + Utilities_base + Insurance + Maintenance) / Productive_hours_per_year
  • Productive hours = hours actually available for value-adding work, not calendar hours

When floor space is a real saving

  • You sublet the freed area at a documented rate.
  • You avoid a planned expansion or move that was already budgeted.
  • You cancel external storage that the freed area replaces.

Avoided expansion

Planned additional area
180 m² at €7.20 / m² / month
Expansion avoided by layout optimisation
€1,296 / month — a genuine cash avoidance
Same area 'freed' without action
€0

Interactive example

Facility cost per productive hour

Facility rate
€ 20,00 / h
Allocated to this cell
€ 16.000
Cash saving from allocation
€ 0

Same calculation kernel as the full calculators. For a decision-grade result, open the matching calculator.

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