Powder Metallurgy & Sintered Parts worked example

Tooling Amortization at 65% press efficiency: a worked example in powder metallurgy & sintered parts

This worked example runs the tooling amortization numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 65% press efficiency instead of the typical 90%. Tooling amortization in powder metallurgy comes down to how many good parts a die set actually produces per hour of press time, because that throughput is what you divide the tool's build cost across to get a per-part tooling charge.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Parts pressed on this tool set: 1,200 units (held at the documented default)
  • Press running time: 8 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Press efficiency (good-part rate): 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Raw tooling amortization = completed output รท runtime.
  • Effective throughput works out to 97.5 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Raw throughput works out to 150 units at these inputs.
  • Efficiency works out to 65 % at these inputs.
  • Runtime works out to 8 hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where press efficiency sits at 90% and the headline result is 135 units, this scenario comes in 27.78% below the baseline at 97.5 units.
  • Use it when quoting a new part, evaluating whether to build a multi-cavity die, or projecting how many press hours it takes to fully amortize a tool. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Effective throughput: 97.5 units (headline result)
  • Raw throughput: 150 units
  • Efficiency: 65 %
  • Runtime: 8 hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Tooling Amortization calculator, set press efficiency to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.