Fiber Optic Cable & Photonic Interconnects worked example

Inspection Throughput at 99% practical inspection efficiency: a worked example

What does the result look like when practical inspection efficiency reaches 99%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when planning endface inspection, visual inspection, interferometer checks, polarity inspection, labeling checks, or final QA throughput.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Completed end-face inspections: 1,200 inspections (unchanged)
  • Inspection station runtime: 8 hr (unchanged)
  • Practical inspection efficiency: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 88)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Raw inspection throughput = completed inspections รท inspection runtime) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 149 units / hr for effective optical inspection throughput, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 150 units / hr for raw inspection throughput.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 99 % for efficiency.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8 hr for runtime.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where practical inspection efficiency sits at 88% and the headline result is 132 units / hr, this scenario comes in 12.5% above the baseline at 149 units / hr.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when practical inspection efficiency is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It assumes efficiency is steady across the shift; in reality re-inspections of failed end-faces and operator fatigue make the effective rate drift, so treat the result as a shift average, not an instantaneous rate.

Results at a glance

  • Effective optical inspection throughput: 149 units / hr (headline result)
  • Raw inspection throughput: 150 units / hr
  • Efficiency: 99 %
  • Runtime: 8 hr

Run it with your numbers

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

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.