Build share: Build share is the fraction of a powder bed build that one part takes up, used to split the cost of the whole build run across the parts in it.
In SLS, MJF and similar processes a machine runs one build holding many parts, often from many orders. The run has a cost (machine hours, energy, gas, cooling, the operator’s time to set it up and break it out), and the shop has to decide how much of it each part pays. Build share is that fraction. It is usually based on the space a part takes up in the packed build, relative to the usable build volume at the packing density the shop achieves.
What it means for the price
A part’s machine cost is its build share times the cost of a full run, plus its own powder and finishing. Basing the share on bounding box volume charges space-wasting shapes fairly; basing it on the part’s own volume favours them. Height matters too, because run time follows the height of the packed build.
Example: a run costs €500, and a part takes 3% of the packed build, so its machine share is €15. The figures are an example.
Common confusions
Build share is not a share of the bed’s floor area: powder bed builds are packed in three dimensions. Nor is it the share of the order’s value. Quotometry prices SLS and MJF today by build share; read how SLS pricing and nesting work.
Go deeper: SLS pricing: build share, packing density, refresh and cool-down