Considering renting a laser tracker to help you complete a project that requires precision measurements? Read this blog first before you make any decisions about renting or hiring.

Cost

The cost of renting a laser tracker can be in the thousands of dollars per day. The laser tracker itself is very expensive to rent, but additional rental fees include accessories and software needed to achieve the actual measurement and alignment process using the laser tracker. Many people don’t realize it, but the laser tracker can not perform any measurements on its own, operators must use prisms and other tools to make the physical measurements.

Hiring a professional laser tracker team to perform the measurements and alignment is also expensive. The actual cost of using a service company depends on the number of techs required to complete the job. Obviously smaller jobs will cost less and longer, more complex jobs will cost more.

Overall, the cost of renting vs hiring is a difficult comparison to make because there are a lot of variables that can not be equated in this hypothetical example. Let’s move to a different area of comparison that shows the stark differences between hiring and renting.

Quality of Work

While the rented laser tracker equipment is very expensive it certainly costs a lot more to actually purchase a laser tracker. The difference between a one-time rental and hiring a professional is that the laser tracker expert will also bring with him years of experience and can help guide the project as it progresses.

When you rent a laser tracker what you are getting is the equipment, but you are not able to fully understand the capabilities of this highly advanced piece of technology. The knowledge gap for new laser tracker users is so great that the ramp up time could easily add additional days to the rental period as you try to understand the process.

Return on Investment

Renting a piece of equipment is a one-time investment for a limited amount of time. For most instances it is less expensive to rent a tracker rather than hiring a service company. However, there is a big difference in the return on investment between renting and hiring. When you rent a laser tracker you must spend time and energy learning how to run a laser tracker and perform the actual measurements.

When you hire a service company to provide the measurement services you are getting more for your money because not only are you paying for a higher quality of work, but you are also adding valuable resources to your team. The years of experience that our laser tracker teams can provide far outweighs the amount of money saved by renting a laser tracker. Money invested in human energy always provides a bigger payout than money invested in technology that can only complicate the process.

Schaeffer Precision Alignment is a professional metrology company based in Texas offering measurement services for all industries. We are experts in laser tracker services and we have applied the laser tracker technology to a wide variety of industries including power, chemical, and production facilities.