Packaging Automation & End-of-Line Systems worked example

End-of-Line Labor Savings at 7.2% setup, staging, and break allowance: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop setup, staging, and break allowance to 7.2%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate the manual labor time a run takes at end of line from the units to handle, the manual handling rate, and an allowance for setup and breaks.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Units to handle at end of line: 120 units (held at the documented default)
  • Manual handling rate: 12 units / min (held at the documented default)
  • Setup, staging, and break allowance: 7.2 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 10)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base end of line labor time = units to handle at end of line รท manual handling rate.
  • Planned end of line labor time works out to 10.72 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base end of line labor time works out to 10 hr at these inputs.
  • Setup and break allowance works out to 7.2 % at these inputs.
  • Manual handling rate works out to 12 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where setup, staging, and break allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 2.55% below the baseline at 10.72 hr.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to setup, staging, and break allowance, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It assumes a single steady handling rate; line stoppages, ramp-up at start of shift and multi-operator parallelism are not modeled and can shift actual hours.

Results at a glance

  • Planned end of line labor time: 10.72 hr (headline result)
  • Base end of line labor time: 10 hr
  • Setup and break allowance: 7.2 %
  • Manual handling rate: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live End-of-Line Labor Savings calculator, set setup, staging, and break allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.