How do you calculate rework loop capacity?

Multiply rework positions by cycles per position-hour for gross attempts, then multiply by loop uptime and recovery yield. With 2 positions at 85 cycles/hr, 88% uptime and 72% recovery, you recover 107.71 good units/hr from 170 gross attempts.

What is a good rework recovery yield?

It varies widely by defect type, but 65-80% is common for solder, fit or cosmetic rework. The 72% default means roughly seven in ten attempts produce a sellable part; cosmetic touch-up can exceed 90%, while structural repairs are often far lower.

Why are recovered units so much lower than gross attempts?

Because both uptime and recovery yield erode the total. Here 170 gross attempts lose 20.4 to downtime and 41.89 to failed recovery, leaving only 107.71 good units/hr, so over a third of attempts never become good stock.

How do I know if my rework loop can keep up?

Compare recovered good units per hour against your upstream defect rate. If the line generates more defects per hour than the loop's gross attempt rate of 170, work-in-process will build and you need more positions or faster cycles.

Is rework worth it versus scrapping?

Compare the value of 107.71 recovered units/hr against the labor and overhead of running the loop. If recovered part value exceeds rework cost, the loop pays; the 41.89 attempts not recovered are a real cost you must include.

What lowers rework loop uptime?

Waiting for parts, missing repair tooling, documentation lookups and operator breaks. The 88% default leaves 12% lost to these; tightening material flow to the loop is usually the cheapest way to lift recovered output.

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Rework Loop Capacity Calculator

Rework loop capacity estimates how many good units per hour a dedicated rework or repair loop can actually recover from a stream of defective parts. Quality engineers and line managers use it when scrap is too expensive to throw away and a manned or semi-automated loop catches failures, repairs them, and feeds them back into good stock. The metric matters because a rework loop has its own finite throughput and its own recovery yield: not every attempt succeeds. Sizing the loop correctly keeps a defect surge from quietly becoming a backlog of work-in-process that never recovers.

What this calculator does

Estimate good units recovered through a rework loop from rework positions, cycles, uptime, and recovery yield.
a quality or production engineer needs to know whether the rework loop can absorb expected defects
It computes recovered good units per hour from rework positions times cycles per position-hour, derated by loop uptime and recovery yield.

Formula used

Gross rework attempts = rework positions × cycles per position-hour
Recovered good units = gross attempts × uptime × recovery yield

Inputs explained

Active rework positions:
Rework cycles per position-hour:
Rework loop uptime:
Successful rework recovery yield:

How to use the result

Use it when designing or staffing a rework loop, deciding whether a repair cell can keep up with an upstream defect rate, or quantifying how much scrap is genuinely recoverable.
It assumes a steady supply of reworkable defects and a fixed recovery yield; parts that fail rework twice or defects that are not repairable will make real recovery lower than calculated.

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

How do you calculate rework loop capacity? Multiply rework positions by cycles per position-hour for gross attempts, then multiply by loop uptime and recovery yield. With 2 positions at 85 cycles/hr, 88% uptime and 72% recovery, you recover 107.71 good units/hr from 170 gross attempts.
What is a good rework recovery yield? It varies widely by defect type, but 65-80% is common for solder, fit or cosmetic rework. The 72% default means roughly seven in ten attempts produce a sellable part; cosmetic touch-up can exceed 90%, while structural repairs are often far lower.
Why are recovered units so much lower than gross attempts? Because both uptime and recovery yield erode the total. Here 170 gross attempts lose 20.4 to downtime and 41.89 to failed recovery, leaving only 107.71 good units/hr, so over a third of attempts never become good stock.
How do I know if my rework loop can keep up? Compare recovered good units per hour against your upstream defect rate. If the line generates more defects per hour than the loop's gross attempt rate of 170, work-in-process will build and you need more positions or faster cycles.
Is rework worth it versus scrapping? Compare the value of 107.71 recovered units/hr against the labor and overhead of running the loop. If recovered part value exceeds rework cost, the loop pays; the 41.89 attempts not recovered are a real cost you must include.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.