Building Materials Manufacturing worked example
Materials Dust Loss at 72% dust loss assigned to this process or order: a worked example
Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop dust loss assigned to this process or order to 72%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate cost of raw material lost as dust during conveying, crushing, grinding, batching, or bagging.
The inputs for this scenario
- Raw material lost as dust or carryover: 1,200 tons (held at the documented default)
- Material cost per ton lost: 2.75 $ / ton (held at the documented default)
- Dust loss assigned to this process or order: 72 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 100)
- Fixed cleanup, filter, disposal, or handling cost: 650 $ (held at the documented default)
Working through the calculation
- The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Allocated materials dust loss = raw material lost as dust or carryover × material cost per ton lost × allocation share.
- Materials Dust Loss works out to 3,026 $ dust loss at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
- Material cost per ton lost works out to 2.52 $ / piece at these inputs.
- Allocated materials dust loss works out to 2,376 $ at these inputs.
- Fixed cleanup, filter, disposal, or handling cost works out to 650 $ at these inputs.
How this compares with the baseline
- Against the tool's baseline example, where dust loss assigned to this process or order sits at 100% and the headline result is 3,950 $ dust loss, this scenario comes in 23.39% below the baseline at 3,026 $ dust loss.
- The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to dust loss assigned to this process or order, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. Tons lost as dust are usually estimated from mass balance or baghouse capture, so the result is only as accurate as that estimate.
Results at a glance
- Materials Dust Loss: 3,026 $ dust loss (headline result)
- Material cost per ton lost: 2.52 $ / piece
- Allocated materials dust loss: 2,376 $
- Fixed cleanup, filter, disposal, or handling cost: 650 $
Run it with your numbers
- To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Materials Dust Loss calculator, set dust loss assigned to this process or order to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.