Free AMR/AGV Fleet Size & ROI Calculator

Compare what a transport flow costs today with what it costs automated. Today’s cost is mainly drivers and vehicles. The automated case has a one-off investment (robots, chargers, commissioning, integration) and running costs (service, software, supervision). Payback is the month in which cumulative savings exceed the investment. This calculator works through that month by month over five years.

Size the fleet for the peak hour, not the daily average. Divide the transports in the peak hour by the trips one robot can make per hour, then allow for charging and a utilization buffer. Example: 49 transports in the peak hour with a 6.5-minute cycle need 7 light-load AMRs at 90 % availability and 85 % target utilization.

It depends mostly on shifts, volume and labor cost. With the default assumptions in this calculator, light-load AMRs on two shifts pay back in about one to two years. Autonomous forklifts cost more per unit and usually need three shifts to pay back within three years.

Chargers, commissioning, mapping and safety acceptance, interfaces to WMS, ERP or MES, doors and elevators, plus service and software subscriptions. This calculator adds about 30 to 35 % on top of the robot hardware for the project and 8 % of the robot price per year for service, parts and vendor software.

Then today’s process costs more than wages suggest, because missing hours are covered by overtime or temp staff at a premium. Switch on “We struggle to hire drivers” and the calculator adds that premium to today’s cost. Robots replace these expensive hours first, which shortens the payback.

If your volume allows it, usually yes. A robot costs the same whether it works one shift or three, while each additional shift needs its own drivers. The assessment above the charts shows how much a third shift changes your payback.

Most sites end up with more than one robot type, for example AMRs for totes and autonomous forklifts for pallets. With a separate fleet manager per vendor, every vendor needs its own interface to every system: three vendors and four systems mean twelve integration projects. With KINEXON Fleet Manager, robots connect via VDA 5050 and each system is integrated once, so four projects.

It is an estimate for orientation, based on typical market values from October 2026. Layout, traffic rules, safety requirements and robot choice can move the result in either direction. Our fleet experts can check your flows and turn the estimate into a business case for your site.