Manufacturing Project Portfolio & Capex worked example

Project Labor Load at 12% setup, handling, and delay allowance: a worked example

What does the result look like when setup, handling, and delay allowance reaches 12%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when project labor load in manufacturing project portfolio and capex is being added to next week's schedule and you need an honest hours estimate.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Project task units to complete: 120 units (unchanged)
  • Crew completion rate: 12 units / min (unchanged)
  • Setup, handling, and delay allowance: 12 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 10)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Base project labor load time = project labor load workload รท project labor load completion rate) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 11.2 hr for required project labor load time, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 10 hr for base project labor load time.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 % for project labor load allowance applied.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 pieces / min for project labor load completion rate.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where setup, handling, and delay allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 1.82% above the baseline at 11.2 hr.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when setup, handling, and delay allowance is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. The single allowance percentage is a blunt instrument; it won't capture rework spikes, learning-curve effects on new crews, or shared-resource contention across parallel tasks.

Results at a glance

  • Required project labor load time: 11.2 hr (headline result)
  • Base project labor load time: 10 hr
  • Project labor load allowance applied: 12 %
  • Project labor load completion rate: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

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

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.