Total cost of ownership (TCO)

The full cost of acquiring and operating a robot system over its useful life, not just the purchase price. TCO accounts for items such as integration, tooling, software licenses, training, energy, consumables, maintenance, spare parts, downtime, and eventual decommissioning or resale. Comparing robots on TCO rather than sticker price gives buyers a more accurate basis for decisions, since integration and lifetime support costs often differ substantially between otherwise similar systems.