Why is total cost of ownership important in industrial procurement?

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the total cost of a product or service over its entire lifecycle, including purchase, use, maintenance and end-of-life disposal. It gives you a complete picture of what an investment actually costs.

In industrial procurement, TCO goes far beyond just the purchase price. You factor in all the costs incurred from the moment you buy a product until the moment you dispose of it. Think of installation costs, staff training, maintenance, repairs, energy consumption and even the costs of disposal or recycling.

For industrial packaging, for example, in addition to the purchase price, you must also consider transport costs, storage costs, any damage caused by insufficient protection, and the costs of returnable packaging. Cheap packaging can ultimately prove much more expensive if it does not protect your products properly.

Procurement professionals focus on TCO because the purchase price is often only a small part of the actual costs. TCO prevents costly surprises and leads to better long-term decisions.

The purchase price tells only part of the story. You might buy a machine for €50,000, but if it requires a lot of maintenance, operates inefficiently or breaks down early, you’ll end up spending much more. A TCO analysis allows you to see this in advance.

What’s more, TCO helps you compare different suppliers fairly. Supplier A might have a higher purchase price, but offers better service and has lower maintenance costs. Without a TCO analysis, you would miss this difference and potentially make the wrong choice.

For companies in high-tech sectors, this is even more important. Downtime can cost thousands of euros per hour, so reliability carries more weight than a low purchase price.

A comprehensive TCO analysis covers acquisition costs, operational costs, maintenance costs, training, downtime and end-of-life disposal. You must include all costs incurred over the product’s lifetime.

The purchase costs are the most obvious: the purchase price, delivery costs, installation and any configuration. But it doesn’t stop there.

Operational costs continue throughout the entire period of use. These include energy costs, consumables and the staff costs for operation. For packaging solutions, for example, these are the costs for storage, handling and transport.

Maintenance costs are often overlooked, but can add up significantly. Consider preventive maintenance, repairs, spare parts and the time your staff spend on these tasks. Training your team is also part of TCO: new equipment often means new procedures.

Don’t forget the hidden costs either: downtime during breakdowns, quality issues caused by malfunctioning equipment and, ultimately, the costs of replacement or disposal at the end of the equipment’s lifespan.

In industrial procurement, packaging is often treated as a separate cost item. In reality, a case, crate or container is part of the operational process around a product: transport, storage, handling, maintenance, field use and return flows. That means a TCO analysis should not only look at the purchase price, but also at what the packaging needs to prevent.

Damage is the obvious risk, but not the only one. Poorly specified packaging can also lead to inefficient handling, unnecessary repacking, missing parts, downtime, compliance issues or higher storage and transport costs. At the same time, over-engineering a solution can add cost without creating extra value.

At Faes, this is where a good packaging project starts. We look at the product, its use, the handling process and the required lifecycle before translating that into a technical solution. That can include custom engineering, interior development, production, assembly, testing and specification support.

Especially in high-tech, industrial and defence environments, these details determine whether packaging remains a cost item or becomes a way to reduce operational risk. A strong TCO analysis connects procurement with engineering, logistics and end use, because the real costs often appear after the purchase order has been placed.

You calculate TCO by adding up all costs over the expected lifespan and discounting them to present value. Start with a list of cost categories and estimate all annual expenditure.

Start by drawing up a timeline. How long do you expect to use the equipment? For industrial machinery, this is often 5 to 15 years. Then make a list of all the cost categories you identified earlier.

Estimate the costs per category per year. Some costs are one-off (purchase, installation), others are annual (maintenance, energy) and others are variable (repairs, downtime). Use historical data from similar equipment if you have it.

Add up all costs over the entire lifespan. For an accurate comparison, you must discount future costs to their present value, as a euro today is worth more than a euro in five years’ time. Use your company’s discount rate for this.

The formula is: TCO = purchase cost + Σ(annual costs / (1 + discount rate)^year) for each year of the lifespan.

TCO and lifecycle costing are closely related, but have a different perspective. TCO focuses on costs to the owner, whilst lifecycle costing takes all costs into account, including external effects and societal costs.

TCO looks at things from your perspective as a buyer and user. It concerns the costs that you, as an organisation, incur during the period that you own a product. This is practical and directly applicable to procurement decisions.

Lifecycle costing has a broader scope. It also takes external costs into account, such as environmental impacts, the social costs of production and sometimes even the impact on end-users. This is mainly used in social projects or when sustainability is a key factor.

In practice, you use TCO for most procurement decisions because it is directly relevant to your business operations. You apply lifecycle costing when you also want to take the broader impact into account, for example in sustainability initiatives or public tenders.

A TCO analysis improves procurement decisions by making all costs visible, comparing suppliers fairly and prioritising long-term value over short-term savings.

With TCO, you see the full picture rather than just the purchase price. This prevents you from buying a cheap product that ultimately turns out to be expensive due to high maintenance costs or poor performance. You make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions.

A TCO analysis also helps with supplier selection. You can objectively compare different quotes, even if the purchase prices vary significantly. The supplier with the highest price may ultimately be the best choice if the total costs turn out to be lower.

Furthermore, TCO analyses force you to think long-term. Instead of focusing on this year’s budget, you look at the multi-year impact of your decision. This leads to more strategic procurement that better aligns with your business objectives.

This is particularly valuable for complex industrial packaging solutions. A smart packaging management approach can deliver significant long-term savings through reusable solutions, better protection of your products and optimised logistics processes.