PLM, BOM & Digital Thread worked example

Engineering Approval Queue Time at 7.2% review, routing, and delay allowance: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop review, routing, and delay allowance to 7.2%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate engineering approval queue time for plm, bom and digital thread using production-ready inputs so teams can plan labor hours, schedule the work, or check whether the job fits the available shift time.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Approvals waiting in the engineering queue: 120 units (held at the documented default)
  • Approvals cleared per minute: 12 units / min (held at the documented default)
  • Review, routing, and delay 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 engineering approval queue time = engineering approval queue time workload รท engineering approval queue time completion rate.
  • Required engineering approval queue time works out to 10.72 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base engineering approval queue time works out to 10 hr at these inputs.
  • Engineering approval queue time allowance applied works out to 7.2 % at these inputs.
  • Engineering approval queue time completion rate works out to 12 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where review, routing, and delay 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 review, routing, and delay allowance, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It assumes a steady clearance rate; in practice approvals arrive in bursts and stall on absent approvers, so treat the result as an average, not a guaranteed completion time.

Results at a glance

  • Required engineering approval queue time: 10.72 hr (headline result)
  • Base engineering approval queue time: 10 hr
  • Engineering approval queue time allowance applied: 7.2 %
  • Engineering approval queue time completion rate: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Engineering Approval Queue Time calculator, set review, routing, and delay allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.