Electronics Repair, Refurbishment & Depot Operations worked example

RMA Queue Lead Time at 7.2% queue hold and admin allowance: a worked example

This worked example runs the rma queue lead time numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 7.2% queue hold and admin allowance instead of the typical 10%. Estimate the labor hours needed to clear an RMA queue through triage, diagnostics, repair routing, or depot processing at the current completion pace.

The inputs for this scenario

  • RMA backlog units awaiting repair: 120 RMA units (held at the documented default)
  • Depot bench throughput rate: 12 RMA units / hr (held at the documented default)
  • Queue hold and admin allowance: 7.2 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 10)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base RMA queue hours = RMA backlog units รท depot processing pace.
  • Estimated RMA queue lead time works out to 10.72 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base RMA queue hours works out to 10 hr at these inputs.
  • Queue hold and admin allowance works out to 7.2 % at these inputs.
  • Depot processing pace works out to 12 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where queue hold and admin allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 2.55% below the baseline at 10.72 hr.
  • Use it when sizing your repair backlog against current bench capacity, quoting depot turnaround, or deciding whether to add a shift before an SLA breach. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Estimated RMA queue lead time: 10.72 hr (headline result)
  • Base RMA queue hours: 10 hr
  • Queue hold and admin allowance: 7.2 %
  • Depot processing pace: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live RMA Queue Lead Time calculator, set queue hold and admin allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.