Should I use contribution margin or lost sales value?

Contribution margin. It is what the lost unit would have contributed after variable cost, and it is the figure that matches the cash the stop really costs. Selling price includes bought-in material and freight the line never consumed, so it overstates the loss.

Why report cost per stop minute?

Because it puts every stoppage on the same footing, so a 40-minute jam and a 10-minute starve can be ranked side by side. Multiply it by the average stop length to size a reliability project.

What belongs in standing labor?

Everyone paid while the conveyor is down: operators, mechanics waiting on parts, sanitation, quality and support staff. Use wages plus benefits for the stopped hours. Leave out anyone who moved to productive work elsewhere.

Does a slow conveyor count as downtime?

No. This page prices a stop. If the conveyor runs but below rate, the gap is a throughput loss, and the throughput or OEE pages measure that instead.

Conveyors calculator

Conveyor Downtime Cost Calculator

Cost a conveyor stop from the good units it lost and the resources that stood idle. The page splits the total into lost contribution and adders, then normalizes it per lost unit and per stop minute.

What this calculator does

Total cost of a conveyor stop from lost contribution, standing labor and overhead, with cost per lost unit and per stop minute.

Formula used

Lost contribution = good units lost × contribution value per unit
Adders = standing labor + overhead, scrap or expedite adders
Conveyor downtime cost = lost contribution + adders
Cost per lost unit = downtime cost ÷ good units lost; cost per stop minute = downtime cost ÷ stop duration

Inputs explained

Good Units Lost During Conveyor Stop: Good units the line would have made while the conveyor was down.
Contribution Value per Lost Unit: Margin each lost unit would have earned after variable cost.
Standing Labor During Stop: Wages paid to everyone idle while the conveyor is down.
Overhead, Scrap, or Expedite Adders: Scrap, premium freight, cleanup or missed shipment cost tied to this stop.
Stop Duration: Measured conveyor stop length, from the downtime log.

How to use the result

Best suited to justifying a conveyor jam fix, costing a breakdown for the daily review, comparing two stoppage causes.
A single stop. Recurring jams need the count of events before you annualize anything. Does not include lost future orders or customer penalties unless you put them in the adders.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The U.S. has 21,668 machinery manufacturing establishments employing about 1,086,146 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

Should I use contribution margin or lost sales value? Contribution margin. It is what the lost unit would have contributed after variable cost, and it is the figure that matches the cash the stop really costs. Selling price includes bought-in material and freight the line never consumed, so it overstates the loss.
Why report cost per stop minute? Because it puts every stoppage on the same footing, so a 40-minute jam and a 10-minute starve can be ranked side by side. Multiply it by the average stop length to size a reliability project.
What belongs in standing labor? Everyone paid while the conveyor is down: operators, mechanics waiting on parts, sanitation, quality and support staff. Use wages plus benefits for the stopped hours. Leave out anyone who moved to productive work elsewhere.
Does a slow conveyor count as downtime? No. This page prices a stop. If the conveyor runs but below rate, the gap is a throughput loss, and the throughput or OEE pages measure that instead.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.