Should your lab hire a CAD designer or outsource some design work? The answer depends on your real case volume, staff costs, turnaround needs and how much control you want over day-to-day design. Use your own figures rather than a Europe-wide salary estimate.
For an overview of the work that can be outsourced, see our exocad design services.
The case for in-house
Full control. Your designer knows your lab’s conventions, your clients’ preferences, your milling equipment’s tolerances. Long-term, a skilled in-house CAD technician is a genuine asset — especially for complex or client-facing cases where familiarity with the whole workflow matters.
If your volume is steady enough to keep a designer productively occupied and you need close day-to-day coordination, in-house can work well.
Work out your own in-house cost per designed tooth
Add the costs your lab actually pays for a year:
| Cost item | Use your own figure |
|---|---|
| Designer pay and employer charges | Local payroll cost |
| exocad and other software | Your licence and support invoices |
| Workstation and equipment | Annualised purchase and maintenance cost |
| Training, management and quality review | Time and direct spending |
| Holiday, sick leave and vacancy cover | Your actual cover arrangement |
Divide the annual total by the units completed and approved in that year. Do not multiply a best-ever daily output by every paid day: leave, training, revisions and uneven demand all affect actual throughput.
Then compare that figure with the outsourcing cost for your monthly volume. Include your own time for preparing briefs, transferring scans and reviewing designs on either route.
Use completed units, not a capacity guess. If your lab records CAD output, use the last 12 months of approved units. If it does not, track a typical month before deciding whether to hire, outsource or combine both.
What outsourcing costs at your volume
Our published tiers are €8 per designed tooth for 1–300 monthly teeth and €7 per designed tooth from 301. Five designed teeth cost €40 at the €8 tier; if both of your two free CAD elements (teeth) are still available and used on that case, the other three cost €24. The volume examples below show the standard rates before any free-element credit:
- 50 designed teeth in a month × €8 = €400
- 80 designed teeth in a month × €8 = €640
- 320 designed teeth in a month × €7 = €2,240
The quote confirms the designed tooth count and total for each case, including full-arch work, before design starts. Bars, frameworks and provisionals have no separate CAD charge. Briefing and approval still require time from your team.
When outsourcing can help
Outsourcing adds capacity without hiring another full-time designer. It can cover overflow, holidays, unfamiliar indications or a trial period before a permanent hire.
You give up some of the immediacy of a colleague in the room. Clear briefs, agreed file formats and a defined review process matter more when work crosses organisations.
A hybrid model
An in-house designer can handle work that benefits from close client contact, while an external team handles agreed overflow or indications your team does not routinely design. The right split depends on your lab’s people, case mix and approval process.
Labs considering that approach can see our white-label CAD capacity for labs.
When should you revisit the decision?
Review it when volume or case complexity changes, when a key designer leaves, or when delivery and revision delays become measurable. Compare the past quarter’s actual cost per approved unit and turnaround, then decide whether to adjust the mix.
Calculate your outsourcing cost
Use our pricing calculator to estimate the monthly design charge at your current or projected billable volume. We confirm the count for each case before starting.
Open pricing calculator →