Municipal Waste Sorting Equipment worked example

Pick Line Labor at 23% fatigue, rotation, and break allowance: a worked example

What does the result look like when fatigue, rotation, and break allowance reaches 23%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when staffing the QC pick line behind the optical sorter or sizing the manual fiber pick cabin against current throughput.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Manual picks required at the sort cabin: 9,000 picks (unchanged)
  • Picks per minute per sorter: 30 picks / min (unchanged)
  • Fatigue, rotation, and break allowance: 23 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 20)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Base pick time = picks required / picks per minute per sorter) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 369 min for required pick line labor time, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 300 min for base pick line labor time.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 23 % for fatigue and rotation allowance applied.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 30 pieces / min for picks per minute per sorter.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where fatigue, rotation, and break allowance sits at 20% and the headline result is 360 min, this scenario comes in 2.5% above the baseline at 369 min.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when fatigue, rotation, and break allowance is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. Pick rate is highly variable — it drops with belt speed, burden depth, and target item size, so a single average rate hides real swings across the shift.

Results at a glance

  • Required pick line labor time: 369 min (headline result)
  • Base pick line labor time: 300 min
  • Fatigue and rotation allowance applied: 23 %
  • Picks per minute per sorter: 30 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

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

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.