How do you calculate auger rate attainment?

Divide the actual conveyed weight by the planned conveyed weight and multiply by 100. With 44 tons actually moved against a 50-ton plan, that is 44 / 50 x 100 = 88 percent attainment.

What is a good auger rate attainment for a feed mill?

Most well-run mills aim for 92 to 98 percent against a realistic plan. The 88 percent in our example sits 4 points under a 92 percent target, which is worth investigating but not alarming.

What causes an auger to fall short of its planned rate?

Common culprits are worn flighting, product bridging in the boot, high-moisture or out-of-spec grain, an undersized drive hitting amp limits, and starved intake from an empty surge bin.

Auger rate attainment vs throughput — what is the difference?

Throughput is the raw tons-per-hour an auger moves; attainment is that output graded against what you planned to move. A high-throughput auger can still post low attainment if the plan was higher.

Why is my gap to target negative or zero?

A zero or negative gap means the auger met or beat plan. In the example the gap is +4 points because 88 percent attainment is below the 92 percent target; if you had conveyed 46 tons the gap would close to zero.

Does auger rate attainment account for product density?

No. The calculator works in tons of actual versus planned weight, so it already reflects density indirectly, but it will not tell you whether a light, fluffy meal versus dense pellets caused the shortfall — you read that from the material being run.

Grain Milling, Dry Bulk Food & Feed Handling calculator

Auger Rate Calculator

Auger rate attainment tells a grain or feed mill how much product its screw conveyors actually moved versus how much the schedule called for, expressed as a percentage. Mill superintendents, conveyor maintenance leads, and feed plant managers track it to catch flighting wear, bridging, slug-feeding, and motor amp limits before they become missed truck loadouts. A persistent shortfall against plan is usually the first signal that an auger is choking on damp or oversized material, or that intake surge bins are starving the screw. It connects directly to whether the mill hits its daily tonnage and keeps rail and truck slots full.

What this calculator does

Calculate auger or screw conveyor rate attainment by comparing actual conveyed material with the planned conveying amount and target attainment.
Use it when a screw conveyor, auger, or feeder is suspected of limiting grain, meal, pellet, flour, or ingredient flow to a bin, mixer, mill, or bagging line.
It computes auger rate attainment as actual conveyed tons divided by planned conveyed tons times 100, then the point gap between that result and your target attainment.

Formula used

Auger rate attainment = actual auger conveyed weight ÷ planned auger conveyed weight × 100
Auger rate gap to target = target auger rate attainment - auger rate attainment

Inputs explained

Actual auger conveyed weight:
Planned auger conveyed weight:
Target auger rate attainment:

How to use the result

Use it at end of shift or after a conveying run to grade an individual auger or transfer leg against its scheduled tonnage.
It measures attainment against your own plan, so an optimistic or stale plan figure will flatter or punish the auger unfairly — the number is only as honest as the planned tonnage you feed it.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
Industrial natural gas averages $4.9 per Mcf (EIA, Apr 2026), down 7.7% from a year earlier, with industrial electricity at 8.66 cents per kWh. Process heating and refrigeration budgets track both.
The U.S. has 17,154 machine shops establishments employing about 223,303 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate auger rate attainment? Divide the actual conveyed weight by the planned conveyed weight and multiply by 100. With 44 tons actually moved against a 50-ton plan, that is 44 / 50 x 100 = 88 percent attainment.
What is a good auger rate attainment for a feed mill? Most well-run mills aim for 92 to 98 percent against a realistic plan. The 88 percent in our example sits 4 points under a 92 percent target, which is worth investigating but not alarming.
What causes an auger to fall short of its planned rate? Common culprits are worn flighting, product bridging in the boot, high-moisture or out-of-spec grain, an undersized drive hitting amp limits, and starved intake from an empty surge bin.
Auger rate attainment vs throughput — what is the difference? Throughput is the raw tons-per-hour an auger moves; attainment is that output graded against what you planned to move. A high-throughput auger can still post low attainment if the plan was higher.
Why is my gap to target negative or zero? A zero or negative gap means the auger met or beat plan. In the example the gap is +4 points because 88 percent attainment is below the 92 percent target; if you had conveyed 46 tons the gap would close to zero.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.