NPI, DFM/DFA & Engineering Change worked example

Test Plan Workload at 1.38% test-station utilization target: a worked example

Push test-station utilization target up to 1.38% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when test plan workload in npi, dfm/dfa and engineering change is being sized against an asset rating.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Test hours required by the plan: 100 units (unchanged)
  • Test-station utilization target: 1.38 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 1.2)
  • Available test-station hours: 8 units (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Required test plan workload load = test plan workload demand รท test plan workload utilization target) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 138 hr for total load, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 17.25 hr / hr for hourly equivalent.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 100 hr for input load.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1.38 x for load factor.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where test-station utilization target sits at 1.2% and the headline result is 120 hr, this scenario comes in 15% above the baseline at 138 hr.
  • It inflates required test hours by a utilization factor to get the true load, then compares that load to available capacity. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Total load: 138 hr (headline result)
  • Hourly equivalent: 17.25 hr / hr
  • Input load: 100 hr
  • Load factor: 1.38 x

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Test Plan Workload calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.