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Calculation of Costs
The factors which
contribute to the cost of using a particular piece of equipment are as follows:
-
Capital
investment (I): This is the cost of a piece of equipment, depreciated
over 10 years.
-
Maintenance
(M): This is the yearly cost of maintaining the equipment including
periodic technical intervention by trained technicians, consumable parts,
gas, water and electricity consumption.
-
Cleanroom
support (CS): This cost is associated with the cost of the cleanroom
including depreciation, maintenance, consumable materials and regular
services such as garment cleaning and waste disposal. This cost is added
only to equipment located inside the cleanroom or in the grey area.
-
House
nitrogen (N): This is the cost associated with the use of house
nitrogen. The machines are weighted according to their relative use of
nitrogen during processing. This cost is not added to the rates quoted for
equipment which do not use nitrogen.
In the calculation of the price of
equipment use for the different types of users, the difference comes from the
amount of the capital depreciation which is charged. National universities are
not charged the depreciation costs whereas international companies are charged
the full depreciation cost (international universities and national companies
are charged a fraction of this cost). The other costs associated with equipment
use are charged equally for all types of users.
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