In today’s manufacturing landscape, where skilled labor is scarce and productivity pressures are high, many business leaders recognize the value of automation… but hesitate to take the first step.
A question often comes up:
“Is now really the right time to invest?”
What most companies fail to consider is the opportunity cost of not automating.
In other words: how much money and efficiency are you losing every month by maintaining the status quo?
Opportunity cost represents the value of the benefits you give up when you choose not to take action.
In manufacturing terms, this translates into:
Waiting to automate doesn’t just postpone a project—it means losing measurable profitability every day.
Let’s take a common situation seen in many manufacturing plants: a manual welding station that could easily be automated.
| Category | Annual gain | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Labor |
$70,000 | $210,000 |
| Productivity |
$200,000 | $600,000 |
| Quality (scrap) |
$8,000 | $24,000 |
| Total opportunity cost |
$834,000 |
Waiting three years to automate costs $834,000 in missed gains. That’s more than three times the robot’s initial price tag.
When companies view automation as an expense, they tend to hesitate. But when they start seeing it as a delayed investment, the logic flips: Every month of waiting becomes a measurable financial loss.
Evaluating the opportunity cost helps:In today’s competitive market, waiting is no longer neutral. The status quo has a cost, and in many cases, it’s much higher than the automation project itself. At Revtech Systems, we help Quebec manufacturers quantify the potential gains of robotic projects and build a clear, profitable roadmap toward automation.