Contract Manufacturing, Job Shop Quoting & Make-to-Order worked example

Make-to-Order Lead Time at 13% queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance to 13%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate lead time hours for a make-to-order job routing.

The inputs for this scenario

  • routing operation count for the order: 32 operations (held at the documented default)
  • routing completion pace: 1.8 operations / hr (held at the documented default)
  • queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance: 13 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 18)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: base routing lead time = routing operation count for the order รท routing completion pace.
  • required make-to-order lead time works out to 20.09 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • base routing lead time works out to 17.78 hr at these inputs.
  • lead-time allowance applied works out to 13 % at these inputs.
  • routing completion pace works out to 1.8 operations / hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance sits at 18% and the headline result is 20.98 hr, this scenario comes in 4.24% below the baseline at 20.09 hr.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It uses one average completion pace and a single flat allowance; it does not model specific bottleneck contention, lot splitting, or overlapping operations.

Results at a glance

  • required make-to-order lead time: 20.09 hr (headline result)
  • base routing lead time: 17.78 hr
  • lead-time allowance applied: 13 %
  • routing completion pace: 1.8 operations / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Make-to-Order Lead Time calculator, set queue, setup, inspection, and handoff allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.