Glass Mold 10 Years TCO LEAN Manufacturing Analysis. Step D.
- Silvio Ruiu
- Jan 9
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 4
Here is the numbers summary, math details below. ⬇️
$485K: Over 10 years, a Wheel Blaster costs $485K in total ownership, compared to the $990K of automated air and the $2.1M financial suicide of manual chemical systems.
Standardized Repeatability: Wheel blasting is the only technology that allows for a tech analysis based on real data testing and absolute process repeatability. see here.
Real-Time KPI Tracking: High consistency allows for immediate monitoring of media consumption KPIs to detect any process drift or operational failures instantly.
Guidelines:
Operational Benchmarks & Market Trends. .
Energy Cost: Rising trend (Global market).
Labor Cost: Rising trend (Calculated at $40/h: $20 wage + $20 ancillaries).
Chemical Operations: Rising costs due to environmental regulations.
These factors are exogenous: industrial planning must account for them as constants.
TCO Long-Term 10 Years Projection (Cumulative Costs).
Volume: 10,000 Molds/Year | Labor: $40/h | Energy: $0.08/kWh.
Data Source: Field-collected data. Investment vs. Operation over 120 months.
Technology | Year 0 (CAPEX) | 3 Years (TCO) | 5 Years (TCO) | 10 Years (TCO) |
Wheel Blasting | $200,000 | $285,611 | $342,685 | $485,370 |
Automatic Air Blasting | $220,000 | $451,045 | $605,075 | $990,150 |
Laser Cleaning | $450,000 | $596,730 | $694,550 | $939,100 |
Automated Chemical | $150,000 | $415,053 | $591,755 | $1,033,510 |
Manual Air Blasting | $25,000 | $407,308 | $662,180 | $1,299,360 |
Manual Chemical | $30,000 | $654,126 | $1,070,210 | $2,110,420 |
The TCO analysis confirms that Wheel Blasting efficiency far outperforms all other technologies. The volume of 10,000 molds/year was selected as a benchmark because it is easily scalable to other plant sizes. As highlighted in Step B, for a plant with $100M revenue, even a small deviation in mold cleaning efficiency can impact up to 10% of the total EBITDA.
LEAN manufacturing principles dictate selecting the most cost-effective solution that allows for standardization. As demonstrated in Step C, this is achievable. Furthermore, Wheel Blasting allows corporate management to standardize the cleaning process across multiple plants. By using the same media specification for common molds, you establish a reliable KPI: any deviation from the expected media consumption immediately flags a process drift.
Again, data is field-sourced for a general overview. If you need a complete analysis based on your real numbers, you can contact me here.
Related blasting equipment solution:
the TAB Blaster series, size goes with productivity needs and space available inside the mold shop.
Full technical analysis is below. 👇
Napkin Math.
Technical Analysis: Cost per Batch (6 Molds).
Note: The choice of the batch of six is related to the capacity of the most common equipment size utilized for mold cleaning.
Cleaning Technology | Cycle Time (Min) | Labor | Energy | Media | Maint. | Total OPEX |
Wheel Blasting | 15 | $10.00 | $0.32 | $0.80 | $6.00 [2] | $23.12 |
Laser Cleaning | 200 | $13.33 | $1.01 | $0.00 | $15.00 | $29.34 |
Auto Air Blasting | 30 | $20.00 | $7.20 [1] | $4.00 | $15.00 [1] | $46.20 |
Auto Chemical | 180 | $30.00 | $2.00 | $15.00 | $6.00 | $53.00 |
Manual Air Blasting | 100 | $66.60 | $2.80 | $5.00 | $2.00 | $76.40 |
Manual Chemical | 150 | $100.00 | $0.80 | $20.00 | $4.00 | $124.80 |
Annual Operating Costs (10,000 Molds/Year).
Labor: $40/h | Energy: $0.08/kWh
Cleaning Technology | Total Hours/Year | Total Labor | Total Energy | Media & Consum. | Total Maint. | Total Annual OPEX |
Manual Air Blasting | 2,778 h | $111,100 | $4,667 | $8,335 | $3,334 | $127,436 |
Auto Air Blasting | 833 h | $33,340 | $12,002 [2] | $6,668 | $25,005 [2] | $77,015 |
Wheel Blasting | 417 h | $16,670 | $533 | $1,334 | $10,000 [3] | $28,537 |
Manual Chemical | 4,167 h | $166,700 | $1,334 | $33,340 | $6,668 | $208,042 |
Auto Chemical | 5,001 h | $50,010 | $3,334 | $25,005 | $10,002 | $88,351 |
Laser Cleaning | 5,556 h | $22,221 | $1,684 | $0 | $25,005 | $48,910 |
Technical Analysis: Annual OPEX & CAPEX (10,000 Molds/Year).
Labor: $40/h | Energy: $0.08/kWh.
Cleaning Technology | Total Hours/Year | Annual OPEX | CAPEX (Est.) |
Manual Air Blasting | 2,778 h | $127,436 | $25,000 |
Automatic Air Blasting | 833 h | $77,015 [1] | $220,000 [2] |
Wheel Blasting | 417 h | $28,537 | $200,000 |
Manual Chemical | 4,167 h | $208,042 | $30,000 |
Automated Chemical | 5,001 h | $88,351 | $150,000 |
Laser Cleaning | 5,556 h | $48,910 | $450,000 [3] |
Quality. Standard. Lean.
Manual air blasting - no quality so impossible to standard.
Automated air blasting - about quality, impossible to standard due to high wear.
Wheel blasting - quality consistent and so standardizable.
Chemical - quality possible in a single plant, impossible in more than one due to Regulatory Liability.
Laser - quality consistent and so standardizable.
Lean - the cheapest by TCO and OPEx is the only solution possible, the wheel blaster.
While standardization impacts in terms of guidelines in every aspect of these big corporations, the mold shop remains a hidden corner where each plant does on its own. Settling properly the process allows to control the cleaning OPEx, to land where TCO is predictable and consistent. Also, standardization as scalable corporation lead to real savings if arranged wisely for example with media getting benefit of better pricing due to quantities and indeed quality guaranteed.
Conclusions.
Molds are the real asset of the glass container industry. The numbers in this analysis are field-sourced averages — your plant has its own volumes, its own mold sizes, its own cycle requirements. The right machine is the one sized on your reality, not on a benchmark. Book a call with Silvio Ruiu to define what fits your mold shop. https://calendar.app.google/SyXMesBoBwojLh2R9
Thank You for reading all.
Summary of the analysis:
Step A: molds as primary asset of a glassmaker.
Clarifying importance of molds for glassmakers. Target: all people involved in glass industry from mold shop to corporate management.
Step B: Molds impact on EBITDA.
How cleaning of the molds impact on the P&L of a glass plant. Target: plant Managers and corporate management.
Step C: Professional standard inside the mold shop.
Technologies available and Lean manufacturing analysis. Target: mold shop Managers and Supervisors, plant Managers.
Step D: financial analysis of the options available. this post.
Summarizing all the results under Lean manufacturing. Target: plant and corporate management.
