Small fabrication shops across Australia are feeling the squeeze. Steel costs shift, clients expect rapid turnarounds, and outsourcing profiles can tie up jobs for days. The simplest way to regain control is to bring cutting in-house with CNC plasma. This article breaks down the return on investment in practical numbers so you can decide if 2025 is the year to act. If you’re still at the research stage, start by browsing Surefire CNC to get a feel for what modern systems include and how they fit into a small-shop workflow.
What’s quietly eroding your margins
Outsourcing premiums. You’re paying for cut time, queue time and freight.
Scrap you can’t see. Manual layouts and hand cuts waste sheet area.
Rework and inconsistency. Variable edges mean more grinding and slower welding.
Admin overhead. Chasing quotes, booking transport and rescheduling when parts slip adds hidden cost.
CNC brings consistent edges, tighter nesting, and predictable cycle times. Those three things reduce labour, material waste and delays—at the same time.
A simple cost model (no fluff)
Think of total cost of ownership in four buckets:
- Capital — the table, power source, torch, extraction, delivery, install, and training.
- Operating — electricity, compressed air, consumables, routine service.
- People — one operator who also handles nesting and loading.
- Space — a clear footprint plus safe loading and maintenance access.
Most small shops run a single table with one trained operator and a backup. That’s enough to absorb a steady profile workload and a few rush jobs each week.
Conservative assumptions for the maths
We’ll use round numbers you can adjust later:
- Weekly cutting requirement: 12 hours of actual torch-on time.
- Labour rate (fully loaded): $45/hour.
- Outsourced profiling cost (effective): $150/hour.
- Finance payment on a mid-tier machine: $1,400/month.
- Electricity + consumables: $12/torch hour on average.
- Sheet steel budget: $8,000/month.
- Scrap rate now (manual/outsourced): 12%. With CNC nesting: 5%.
Scenario A: keep outsourcing
- Cutting: 12 hours × $150 = $1,800/week.
- Freight/admin buffer: $180/week.
- Scrap: 12% of $8,000 = $960/month.
Monthly total ≈ $9,840.
Scenario B: bring cutting in-house with CNC plasma
- Finance: $1,400/month.
- Operating (power + consumables): 12 hours × $12 × 4 = $576/month.
- Operator oversight: 12 hours × $45 × 4 = $2,160/month.
- Scrap: 5% of $8,000 = $400/month.
Monthly total ≈ $4,536.
Headline result
Estimated monthly saving: $9,840 − $4,536 = $5,304.
Even if your outsource rate is lower or your torch time is lighter, there’s healthy room before break-even. For many shops, the machine is cash-flow positive in the first month.
Gains the spreadsheet doesn’t capture
- Lead-time control. You can start today, not “when the profiler can fit you in.”
- Quality consistency. Same machine, same settings, same edges—less grinding.
- Rush-job premiums. Say yes to urgent work and charge appropriately.
- Design agility. Quick DXF tweaks without re-quoting a supplier.
- Tender strength. In-house capability signals reliability and reduces risk for clients.
Plasma vs laser (plain English)
Plasma shines for mild steel from 2–20 mm where speed and robustness matter. Consumables are affordable, compressed air often suffices, and maintenance is straightforward. Laser excels for ultra-thin material and fine filigree detail but comes at a higher capital and service cost. If your bread-and-butter work is brackets, baseplates, gussets, trays and general fabrication, plasma usually hits the best price-performance point.
Picking the right table (buy for 80% of jobs)
- Bed size. Match your common sheets. 1.2 × 2.4 m works for many; 1.5 × 3 m offers more nesting options and fewer off-cuts.
- Pierce capacity. Aim for clean pierces at your common thickness, with headroom for occasional heavier work.
- Controller & CAD-CAM. Look for clear toolpath previews, simple DXF import, and reliable auto-nesting.
- Fume management. Water table or downdraft with filtration so the air stays clean and coatings stick.
- Local support. Fast phone help, quick consumables, and real technicians who can visit.
When comparing models, keep a browser tab open on Plasma Cutting Tables so you can map features against your parts list and avoid over-specing.
The five-step worksheet to check your numbers
Grab your last month of jobs and fill these lines:
- Outsourced cutting spend per week: ______
- Freight/admin per week: ______
- Sheet spend per month: ______
- Current scrap rate: ______ → Target with nesting: ______
- Torch hours you could bring in-house per week: ______
- Projected finance payment per month: ______
- Consumables/power per torch hour: ______
- Operator hours per week (set-up + loading): ______
Run the two totals as above. If the in-house number is at least 20% lower, that’s a strong green light. If your shop is seasonal, plan to outsource overflow during peaks and run steady in shoulder months.
Implementation plan (six moves that matter)
- Audit four weeks of parts. Record cut length, thickness, outsource cost, and rework minutes.
- Request a live demo. Bring two real DXFs. Time the cycle and inspect edges before and after finishing.
- Confirm services. Check your compressor, power, and extraction fit the chosen machine.
- Lay out the bay. Allow safe loading space, a consumables station, and clear access for maintenance.
- Write two SOPs. One for nesting and set-up, one for daily/weekly maintenance. Post them next to the controller.
- Stage the transition. Move repeating parts in-house first; keep unusual one-offs outsourced until the team is confident.
Avoid these common pitfalls
- Over-specing. Buy for the work you do 80% of the time; subcontract the outliers.
- Skipping extraction. Fume control is non-negotiable for safety and coating quality.
- Running out of consumables. Keep a small bin of electrodes, nozzles, and shields on hand.
- Messy drawings. Standardise fonts, minimum web widths and hole sizes. Clean vectors equal clean cuts.
- No photo proof. Take quick, well-lit photos of finished parts for approvals and your quote files.
Signals you’re ready now
- You’re spending more than $2,500/month on outsourced cutting.
- Your backlog is growing because you’re waiting on profiles.
- You repeat the same plates and brackets every week and could standardise nests.
- You want to win rush jobs and keep that margin, not hand it to a supplier.
Final word
CNC plasma isn’t just a new tool; it’s a way to bring profit and control back under your roof. The numbers favour in-house cutting for many small Australian fabricators, especially when you include scrap reduction, hours saved and the ability to say yes to urgent work. Price a table, run your worksheet, and book a demo with your real files. If your figures look anything like the examples here, the upgrade can start paying for itself from month one—and keep compounding from there.
