Additive Manufacturing Service Bureau Quoting worked example

AM Labor Burden Time at 14% documentation and handling allowance: a worked example

This worked example runs the am labor burden time numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 14% documentation and handling allowance instead of the typical 20%. Estimate service bureau operator labor hours from job count, handling throughput, and labor allowance.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Build jobs or post-processing tasks in the batch: 24 tasks (held at the documented default)
  • Operator handling throughput: 0.22 tasks / min (held at the documented default)
  • Documentation and handling allowance: 14 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 20)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base AM labor burden = jobs or build tasks รท operator handling throughput.
  • Quoted AM labor burden works out to 124 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base labor burden works out to 109 hr at these inputs.
  • Documentation/handling allowance works out to 14 % at these inputs.
  • Operator handling throughput works out to 0.22 tasks / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where documentation and handling allowance sits at 20% and the headline result is 131 hr, this scenario comes in 5% below the baseline at 124 hr.
  • Use it when pricing the manual content of a build, when staffing post-processing for a known batch, or when comparing the labor cost of two part designs. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Quoted AM labor burden: 124 hr (headline result)
  • Base labor burden: 109 hr
  • Documentation/handling allowance: 14 %
  • Operator handling throughput: 0.22 tasks / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live AM Labor Burden Time calculator, set documentation and handling allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.