MedTech Manufacturing worked example

Sterilization Batch Capacity at 66% sterilizer uptime: a worked example

Suppose sterilizer uptime falls to 66%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate good sterile units per period from load size, available cycles, sterilizer uptime, and sterility release yield.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Units per sterilization load: 600 devices / load (held at the documented default)
  • Available cycles per period: 8 cycles (held at the documented default)
  • Sterilizer uptime: 66 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 92)
  • Sterility release yield: 99 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross sterilization batch capacity = units per sterilization load × available cycles per period.
  • Released sterile units per period works out to 3,136 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross sterilization capacity works out to 4,800 units at these inputs.
  • Units lost to sterilizer downtime works out to 1,632 units at these inputs.
  • Units lost to sterility release failures works out to 31.68 units at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where sterilizer uptime sits at 92% and the headline result is 4,372 units, this scenario comes in 28.26% below the baseline at 3,136 units.
  • It computes gross sterilization throughput from load size and cycles, then derates it by uptime and release yield to give releasable sterile units per period. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Released sterile units per period: 3,136 units (headline result)
  • Gross sterilization capacity: 4,800 units
  • Units lost to sterilizer downtime: 1,632 units
  • Units lost to sterility release failures: 31.68 units

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Sterilization Batch Capacity calculator, set sterilizer uptime to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.