Machine Vision & Industrial Inspection AI worked example

Inspection Labor Savings at 14% fatigue, break, and handling allowance: a worked example

This worked example runs the inspection labor savings numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 14% fatigue, break, and handling allowance instead of the typical 20%. Estimate the manual inspection labor hours displaced per shift when automated vision inspection replaces or supplements human inspectors, accounting for manual inspection rate and fatigue and break allowances.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Parts removed from manual inspection per shift: 3,600 parts / shift (held at the documented default)
  • Manual inspection rate: 8 parts / min (held at the documented default)
  • Fatigue, break, and handling allowance: 14 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 20)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base manual inspection time = parts per shift / manual inspection rate.
  • Inspector hours displaced per shift works out to 513 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base manual inspection hours works out to 450 hr at these inputs.
  • Fatigue and break allowance works out to 14 % at these inputs.
  • Manual inspection rate works out to 8 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where fatigue, break, and handling allowance sits at 20% and the headline result is 540 hr, this scenario comes in 5% below the baseline at 513 hr.
  • Use it when building the ROI for a vision investment, planning to redeploy inspectors, or quantifying the labor content of a manual inspection task. 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

  • Inspector hours displaced per shift: 513 hr (headline result)
  • Base manual inspection hours: 450 hr
  • Fatigue and break allowance: 14 %
  • Manual inspection rate: 8 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Inspection Labor Savings calculator, set fatigue, break, and handling allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.