Additive Manufacturing worked example

Additive Inspection Cost with additive production lots of 3 lots: a worked example

Suppose additive production lots falls to 3 lots. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate inspection sample count and hours for additive lots from lots, runs per lot, and samples per run.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Additive production lots: 3 lots (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 6)
  • Build runs per lot: 4 runs / lot (held at the documented default)
  • Inspection samples per run: 3 samples / run (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Total inspection samples = lots × build runs per lot × samples per run.
  • Inspection samples required works out to 36 samples at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Estimated inspection hours works out to 1.8 hr at these inputs.
  • Production lots works out to 4 lots at these inputs.
  • Samples per run works out to 3 samples / run at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where additive production lots sits at 6 lots and the headline result is 72 samples, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 36 samples.
  • It computes total inspection samples from production lots, build runs per lot, and samples per run, and estimates the inspection hours that workload implies. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Inspection samples required: 36 samples (headline result)
  • Estimated inspection hours: 1.8 hr
  • Production lots: 4 lots
  • Samples per run: 3 samples / run

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Additive Inspection Cost calculator, set additive production lots to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.