What's new
What's new

Why are CMM probe racks so expensive?

Hazzert

Stainless
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Is this just a matter of "well you already bought a $100k machine, what's a couple more for the rack?" Or is there some precision and technology behind them? It seems like something that should be easy enough to make.

See listings like: Renishaw MCR2 CMM Probe Module Change Rack | eBay

Edit: looking at some other listings during the light of day it seems they have inputs and outputs so that justifies the prices to me, I was under the impression it was just a rack.
 
Last edited:
OK, so it is a $100,000 machine. Just how many of them do you think they are selling? Seems to me that dozens of them in a year would be about right. Hundreds would be their dream.

Now, think about what it takes to develop, manufacture, document, sell, and support such a machine. Constant problems to solve and probably a continuous effort to design the next model. All this costs money. A $100,000 machine may cost a million or more to develop. The point of this is that the companies that do this kind of thing have large expenses. And they have to crank a generous amount of overhead into the price of their products. Most of them will have a similar pricing policy for everything that they produce.

So a simple accessory will be priced with the same additional factors thrown in as for the basic machine. Is it right? Is it fair? Who can say? There is always the free market factor. Anyone out there can produce either the machines or the accessories, with their own design of course. And they can then charge whatever they feel they should. Competition can bring prices down. Perhaps there is a business opportunity there. But competition and lower prices can also mean less support and other shortcuts by the original manufacturer. When is the last time you talked to a Chinese manufacturer about problems with an import machine? Can you say "Never"? I sure can.

Such is free enterprise.
 
Yes, I do think up to $4k for what amounts to a rack is a lot of money. My opening post alluded to what you were getting at EPA but we are talking a used rack from a reseller not right out of the Mitutoyo catalog here.

I'd hoped that there was maybe some technology to justify the price but theeir justification appears to be "because we can."
 
If you can make it for less . . . seems to me to be the better measure of what it is worth.

We make custom equipment and many machines are one-off. A simple rack like that has what appears to be injection molded parts, turned parts, milled parts, sheet metal parts, and then finishing + engraving. Figure 20 or more components i the assembly - minimum of 4 hours per part for drawings (80 hours) and probably 40 hours of modeling, design reviews, etc. Then each part is entered into the ERP system, manuals made, revision tracking, etc. So, the OEM easily has 120-160 hours of engineering / drafting / meetings into the first article at roughly $120/hour with O/H for a company like Reneshaw - so ~$15k-$20k just to get it ready to manufacture. Then make the parts from the prints including single purpose tooling, run through QA, then send parts out for finishing, QA again and then assemble and final QA . . . first article is probably north of $100k.

Now write the manual, contract out the packaging (did you notice the die cut cardboard box it is shipped in to protect it?) . . . and so on.

Sell 10 a year for 5 years and the base price not counting any actual parts is $2k+ each just for labor - I would be amazed if they made money selling them at $5k each.

And, the used market is based on what new costs and demand for the item . . . simple economics of new and used component sales.
 
I think you need to go back and take another look. There's a rack listed for $5k, but that includes 3 modules. They're about $1,200 ea.

The rack isn't too complex, but it's a lot more elaborate than a molded piece of plastic. I guess you could say that if you need one, they can charge whatever they want for it. But, isn't that also what you do?
 
You're right Larry, that what we all are doing in this business. My questions really boils down to is there something special about these racks or does the economics of scale justify the price alone? And it looks like that's the answer.

A shop made copy might not have the actuated covers and other assorted nice-to-haves but that shouldn't stop a nicely turned base and a rack from serving the same purpose unless there is something special about the renishaw one that lets the CMM do the changes automatically.

Edit: Looking closer at some other racks it appears they do have some sort of power and input/outputs and that alone justifies the price to me, I was under the impression it was just a rack.
 
I went to a Zeiss CMM training class a couple years ago, and we had some discussion about the rack magazines. There's an injection-molded tray that actually holds the stylus/head, and the tray itself just bolts/clamps to a piece of 80/20 extruded rail. All the "precision" is built into the plastic tray, including the small cone which you actually probe with the machine. As for the rack itself - you could nail together some old pallet wood, and so long as the trays are flat/level/straight to the machine, it would be fine.

That being said, anybody with an 80/20 catalog who bought the OEM plastic trays could make anything for their machine they wanted...
 
You say the presence of inputs and outputs, implying some electronics inside, justifies the prices. Really? Heck, that's probably the least expensive part of it. I doubt that any circuitry/electronics inside would be more than $100, retail in small quantities.

As I said, the real reason is in their general pricing practices. And in the low sales volume.



Is this just a matter of "well you already bought a $100k machine, what's a couple more for the rack?" Or is there some precision and technology behind them? It seems like something that should be easy enough to make.

See listings like: Renishaw MCR2 CMM Probe Module Change Rack | eBay

Edit: looking at some other listings during the light of day it seems they have inputs and outputs so that justifies the prices to me, I was under the impression it was just a rack.
 








 
Back
Top