Dental, Orthodontic & Prosthetics Manufacturing worked example

Polishing Labor at 12% setup and touch-up allowance: a worked example

This scenario runs the polishing labor calculation on the strong side: 12% setup and touch-up allowance, with every other input held at its documented default. Use it when polishing labor in dental, orthodontic and prosthetics manufacturing needs a defensible run time before a quote goes out.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Appliances or surfaces to polish: 120 appliances (unchanged)
  • Polishing throughput: 12 appliances / hr (unchanged)
  • Setup and touch-up allowance: 12 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 10)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Base polishing hours = appliances or surfaces to polish รท polishing throughput) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 11.2 hr for required polishing labor hours, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 10 hr for base polishing hours.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 % for setup and touch-up allowance.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 pieces / min for polishing throughput.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where setup and touch-up allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 1.82% above the baseline at 11.2 hr.
  • Use it to staff the finishing bench, plan same-day turnaround, or cost the polishing labor in a case quote. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Required polishing labor hours: 11.2 hr (headline result)
  • Base polishing hours: 10 hr
  • Setup and touch-up allowance: 12 %
  • Polishing throughput: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Polishing Labor calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.