How do you calculate rework cost for a stamping or spring lot?

Multiply the flagged parts by the rework cost per part, then by the salvageable share, and add the fixed sort/inspection setup. With 8,000 parts at $0.09, 75% salvageable and a $140 setup, that is 8,000 x 0.09 x 0.75 + 140 = $680 total.

Why multiply by the salvageable share instead of all parts?

You only pay rework labor on the parts you can actually save. If 75% of a flagged lot is salvageable, only 6,000 of 8,000 parts get reworked, giving $540 of variable rework cost; the rest are scrapped separately.

What is the rework cost per piece in this example?

Total rework cost divided by parts reworked: $680 / 8,000 = $0.085 per piece. That blended figure includes both the variable rework and the spread of the $140 fixed setup across the lot.

Rework vs scrap, which is cheaper for micro-formed parts?

Compare the $0.085 rework cost per unit against the fully loaded material, forming and plating value you would lose to scrap plus rerun cost. For high-value plated micro-springs, rework almost always wins; for cheap flat blanks, scrap-and-rerun can be cheaper.

What is a good rework cost per part?

There is no universal number, but many precision stamping shops target rework under 1 to 2% of the part sell price. At $0.085 on a part selling for several dollars, this lot is well inside a healthy range.

Should the sort/inspection setup be per lot or amortized?

Treat it as a fixed per-lot charge, as this calculator does. The $140 setup does not scale with quantity, so on a larger lot it dilutes to a smaller per-unit adder and rework becomes more attractive per piece.

Precision Springs, Stampings & Micro-Formed Components calculator

Rework Cost Calculator

Rework Cost tells a precision stamping and spring shop what it truly spends to salvage a suspect lot instead of scrapping it. When a coil-spring free length drifts or a progressive-die stamping shows a burr or flash, you can re-form, deburr, re-plate or re-anneal rather than throw the run away, but only if the salvage math beats the scrap credit. Quality engineers, estimators and lot-disposition teams use this to choose sort-and-rework versus scrap-and-rerun, and to load the real cost back into the job. Because micro-formed parts carry high per-piece material and plating value, even a few cents of rework per part scales fast across a 5,000 to 50,000-piece lot.

What this calculator does

Estimate the cost of re-forming, deburring or re-inspecting defective stampings and springs.
A quality engineer weighing sort-and-rework against scrap on a flagged lot uses it to size the recovery cost.
It computes total rework cost as flagged parts times per-part rework cost times the salvageable share, plus a fixed sort and inspection setup charge, then back-solves the blended cost per reworked unit.

Formula used

Rework cost = parts reworked x cost per part x salvageable share% + sort setup
Rework cost per part = total rework cost / parts reworked

Inputs explained

Stampings/springs flagged for rework:
Secondary rework labor and consumables per part:
Share salvageable after re-forming or re-plating:
Sort, gauge and inspection setup charge:

How to use the result

Use it at lot disposition, when incoming, in-process or final inspection flags a nonconformance and you must decide between reworking the affected parts or scrapping and rerunning.
It assumes every salvageable part passes after a single rework pass; parts that fail re-inspection and need a second pass or ultimately scrap are not captured, so real cost can run higher on marginal lots.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The U.S. has 53,790 fabricated metal products establishments employing about 1,441,471 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate rework cost for a stamping or spring lot? Multiply the flagged parts by the rework cost per part, then by the salvageable share, and add the fixed sort/inspection setup. With 8,000 parts at $0.09, 75% salvageable and a $140 setup, that is 8,000 x 0.09 x 0.75 + 140 = $680 total.
Why multiply by the salvageable share instead of all parts? You only pay rework labor on the parts you can actually save. If 75% of a flagged lot is salvageable, only 6,000 of 8,000 parts get reworked, giving $540 of variable rework cost; the rest are scrapped separately.
What is the rework cost per piece in this example? Total rework cost divided by parts reworked: $680 / 8,000 = $0.085 per piece. That blended figure includes both the variable rework and the spread of the $140 fixed setup across the lot.
Rework vs scrap, which is cheaper for micro-formed parts? Compare the $0.085 rework cost per unit against the fully loaded material, forming and plating value you would lose to scrap plus rerun cost. For high-value plated micro-springs, rework almost always wins; for cheap flat blanks, scrap-and-rerun can be cheaper.
What is a good rework cost per part? There is no universal number, but many precision stamping shops target rework under 1 to 2% of the part sell price. At $0.085 on a part selling for several dollars, this lot is well inside a healthy range.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.