TCO: Total Cost of Ownership on the Factory Floor
It is tempting for IT departments to deploy standard $500 commercial desktop PCs in manufacturing environments. However, the hardware acquisition cost is the smallest variable in the equation.
The Cost of Downtime
When a PC controlling an automated assembly line fails due to dust ingress or overheating, the entire line stops. In automotive manufacturing, downtime can cost upwards of $20,000 per minute. In these scenarios, a $2,000 industrial PC pays for itself the first time it doesn't fail.
Commercial PC
- Lifespan: 1-2 years in harsh env
- Failure rate: High (fans clog, drives fail)
- Lifecycle: 18 months (forces constant image updates)
Industrial PC
- Lifespan: 5-10 years
- Failure rate: Low (fanless, wide-temp)
- Lifecycle: 5-15 year locked BOM (write OS image once)