Ammunition Components & Ballistics Manufacturing worked example

Safety and Quality Inspection Workload Cost with inspectors and gauges working in parallel of 10 labor-equivalent units/hr: a worked example

What does the result look like when inspectors and gauges working in parallel reaches 10 labor-equivalent units/hr? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. a quality lead needs to estimate inspection workload and cost per inspected component or package

The inputs for this scenario

  • Inspectors and gauges working in parallel: 10 labor-equivalent units/hr (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 4)
  • Inspection station runtime per lot: 36 hr (unchanged)
  • Loaded inspection labor and gauge rate: 38 $ / workload unit (unchanged)
  • Primers, cases, or loaded rounds inspected: 12,000 units (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Inspection workload units = inspection workload rate × inspection runtime) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 13,680 $ for total inspection workload cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 360 workload units for inspection workload units.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1.14 $ / unit for inspection cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 380 $ / hr for inspection workload cost per hour.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where inspectors and gauges working in parallel sits at 4 labor-equivalent units/hr and the headline result is 5,472 $, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 13,680 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when inspectors and gauges working in parallel is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It assumes inspection workload scales linearly with runtime and ignores rejects, re-inspection loops, and scrap — a lot with high defect rates will cost more per accepted unit than this figure suggests.

Results at a glance

  • Total inspection workload cost: 13,680 $ (headline result)
  • Inspection workload units: 360 workload units
  • Inspection cost per unit: 1.14 $ / unit
  • Inspection workload cost per hour: 380 $ / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Safety and Quality Inspection Workload Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.