Bottling, Canning & Filling Lines worked example

Cap Usage at 71% cap application yield after drops and rejects: a worked example

Suppose cap application yield after drops and rejects falls to 71%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate the number of caps needed for a bottling run after samples, startup waste, dropped caps, and capper rejects.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Bottles scheduled to receive caps: 48,000 units (held at the documented default)
  • Caps per bottle including samples and startup waste: 1.02 units (held at the documented default)
  • Cap application yield after drops and rejects: 71 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 98)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Theoretical required cap count = bottles scheduled to receive caps × caps per bottle including samples and startup waste.
  • Required cap count works out to 68,958 caps at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Required cap count before yield loss works out to 48,960 caps at these inputs.
  • Required cap count loss allowance works out to 19,998 caps at these inputs.
  • Cap application yield after drops and rejects works out to 71 % at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where cap application yield after drops and rejects sits at 98% and the headline result is 49,959 caps, this scenario comes in 38.03% above the baseline at 68,958 caps.
  • It computes the caps required for a run by multiplying bottles by caps per bottle, then dividing by application yield to cover drops and rejects. 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

  • Required cap count: 68,958 caps (headline result)
  • Required cap count before yield loss: 48,960 caps
  • Required cap count loss allowance: 19,998 caps
  • Cap application yield after drops and rejects: 71 %

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Cap Usage calculator, set cap application yield after drops and rejects to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.