---
title: "Robot rental: pay when it produces, SME case | OpiFlex"
description: No initial cost, a rental over 48 months and payment when the robot produces. A case from an SME, with gross profit, rent and profit after rental per month.
image: https://blog.opiflex.se/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p12-rental-case.png
---

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# Pay when it produces

[Robot Rental](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/robot-rental) [Case Study](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/case-study) [Production Economics](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/production-economics)

Updated at: 14 October 2026

A robot is usually bought as an investment: a sum up front, and a payback that comes later. There is another way to look at it. Pay for the robot while it produces.

That is the idea behind our sister company Rent a Robot. No initial cost, and you pay when it produces.

## A case from a small manufacturer

One SME rents a complete OpiFlex cell over 48 months. The package includes an MRP 60 robot cell with fenceless safety and the Dynamic Program Generator, seven flexible grippers, peripherals, installation, CE marking and preventive maintenance.

|  | Per month |
| --- | --- |
| Increase in gross profit | 28.5 kEUR (343 kEUR per year) |
| Rental cost | 8.9 kEUR |
| Profit after rental | 19.6 kEUR |

In this case, the increase in gross profit is more than three times the rent. Over the four years, profit after rental comes to about 940 kEUR. That is one customer's result with their products and their volumes, not a figure that carries over to every plant.

![Case SME: rental of robots and machines, no initial cost, pay when it produces, profit after four years 940 kEUR](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p12-rental-case.png?width=1280&height=720&name=p12-rental-case.png)

## What makes the numbers possible

A monthly fee only works if the robot works. Two things decide that.

The first is hours. A week has 168 hours, and two shifts use 48 % of them. A mobile cell can be moved between machines instead of standing still when the volume in one machine runs out, and it can keep running when the staff go home.

The second is changeover. With the Dynamic Program Generator, an operator creates a program for a new part in 1–3 minutes, against 10–60 hours with traditional programming. That makes short series worth running in the cell.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gMVEZmA63HA" title="OpiFlex flexible robot cells" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## Buy, lease or rent

Renting is one option. You can also buy or lease the cell. Service agreements are available up to 24/7, with remote and on-site support.

## Your own numbers

Whether renting makes sense for you depends on your parts, your machines and your shifts. We can calculate it with your own figures in our production economics model, validated by Chalmers University of Technology. Tell us a little about your production first, and send a few pictures of typical parts if you can. [Contact us](https://www.opiflex.se/en/contact/), or read more about [Rent a Robot](https://rentarobot.se/en/).

Johan Frisk

[Read more from Johan Frisk](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/author/johan-frisk)

## Related articles

- ### [![Cost of production downtime at robot installation, traditional compared with fenceless](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p09-installation-downtime-cost.png?length=500&name=p09-installation-downtime-cost.png) flexible robotics fenceless safety Production Economics Hidden costs in a robot investment: ROI example | OpiFlex Installation downtime, new products and weeks of waiting rarely appear in a robot investment calculation. Example calculations of what they cost per shift. Read more](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/the-hidden-costs-in-a-robot-investment)
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