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Short answer: the hourly rate of a CNC machining centre is the sum of depreciation, interest, floor space, energy, maintenance and cutting tools, divided by productive hours. With the example values below: €18.68 per hour for the machine, €56.68 with the operator.
By the RFQdecoder team · updated 26 September 2026
An hourly rate is not read from a price list: it is built item by item.
Interest is calculated on half the purchase price: that is the average capital tied up during depreciation.
A €180,000 machining centre, depreciated over 8 years, running 3,200 hours a year:
| Item | € / hour | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | €7.03 | €180,000 ÷ 8 years ÷ 3,200 h |
| Interest | €0.84 | €180,000 × 3% ÷ 2 ÷ 3,200 h |
| Floor space | €0.94 | 25 m² × €120 ÷ 3,200 h |
| Energy | €1.62 | 15 kW × 60% × €0.18 |
| Maintenance | €2.25 | €180,000 × 4% ÷ 3,200 h |
| Cutting tools | €6.00 | value entered |
| Machine rate | €18.68 | sum of items |
| Operator | €38.00 | value entered |
| Workstation rate | €56.68 | machine + operator |
These values are a worked example, not a market average. Replace them with those of your shop or your supplier.
Four items out of six are fixed annual costs: depreciation, interest, floor space and maintenance. They are due whether the machine runs or not. Divided by productive hours, they become a cost per hour. A lightly loaded machine therefore carries a high hourly rate, even if it cost the same as a fully loaded one.
On the example, going from 3,200 to 4,000 productive hours brings the machine rate down from €18.68 to €16.47, with nothing else changed. Conversely, a machine that produces only 1,600 hours a year goes up to €29.75.
The calculator above rebuilds the cost of one machine hour, then of the workstation with its operator. That is an internal cost. A shop that bills you an hour of machining applies an all-in shop rate instead. Altior lists what it contains: machine depreciation, « La main-d’œuvre : salaire chargé de l’opérateur, au prorata du temps passé sur le moyen » (labour: the operator’s loaded wage, pro rata to the time spent on the machine), direct costs (energy, consumables, cutting tools, maintenance) and « La quote-part de frais généraux : surface au sol, encadrement, fonctions support. » (the share of overheads: floor space, supervision, support functions).
« Les fourchettes ci-dessous sont des taux horaires moyens HT, observés en sous-traitance mécanique française. » (The ranges below are average hourly rates excluding VAT, observed in French mechanical subcontracting.) 3-axis machining centre: €65 to €95 an hour. 4/5-axis centre: €90 to €150. CNC lathe: €60 to €85. CAM programming: €70 to €110.
RFQdecoder costs the machining centre and the lathe at this shop rate (€78/h and €72/h), without adding the operator or a share of overheads on top: that would charge them twice. 4/5-axis centres are costed at €120/h, the middle of the published range, and programming left out of the price is costed at €70 to €110/h. The rate also reflects how busy the shop really is: « Une machine chargée à 60 % a un taux horaire réel bien supérieur à celui calculé sur 100 % de charge. » (A machine loaded at 60% has a real hourly rate well above one calculated at 100% load.) That is why the workstation rate calculated above stays below a billed rate.
Source: Équipe Quote par Altior, « Taux horaire machine en usinage : les fourchettes par type de machine », 11 June 2026, quote.altior.fr.
The hourly rate applies to the time of each operation. A 6.8-minute operation on a €56.68-per-hour workstation costs €6.42 of cycle time; the setup spread over the batch and part-specific tooling come on top. It is this operation-by-operation calculation that the CNC machining cost example shows and that the tool applies to your drawing.
When one operator runs two machines in parallel, the operator cost is shared. With the example values, each machine then carries €19.00 of operator instead of €38.00, and the workstation rate drops from €56.68 to €37.68 per hour. It is one of the most frequent gaps between two quotes: a shop that runs stable batches without permanent supervision can show a much lower rate for the same machine.
Depreciation, interest on capital, floor space, energy, maintenance and cutting tools, spread over the hours the machine really produces. The operator is added to get the rate of the workstation.
In French machining subcontracting, an hour on a 3-axis machining centre is billed €65 to €95 excl. VAT on average, €90 to €150 on a 4/5-axis centre and €60 to €85 on a CNC lathe (Altior, June 2026). This shop rate already includes the operator and overheads; the calculator on this page gives the internal cost of the workstation.
Productive hours, the age of the machines, the price of energy and the depreciation convention all change the result. On the jobs calibrated by RFQdecoder, the depreciation convention alone moves the hourly rate by 11%.
Better keep them apart: one operator can run several machines, and the operator cost does not follow the machine cost.
The hours in which the machine really produces parts, not the shop opening hours. Setups, breakdowns, maintenance and waiting are taken out. It is the input that moves the rate the most, because it divides almost every item.
Upload the drawing: the tool applies the rates to every operation of your part.