Additive Manufacturing calculator
Print Scrap Rate Calculator
Scrap rate shows how much printed output is lost to dimensional issues, surface defects, depowdering damage, cure problems, or failed inspection. This calculator helps teams track scrap and decide whether process improvement or quote allowance changes are needed.
What this calculator does
- Calculate scrapped additive parts as a percentage of total produced parts and compare with a scrap target.
- a quality manager needs to monitor additive scrap by material, printer, or product family
- Returns the percentage of produced printed parts that were scrapped.
Formula used
- Print scrap rate = scrapped printed parts รท total produced parts
- Gap to target = target scrap rate - actual scrap rate
Inputs explained
- Scrapped printed parts: undefined
- Total produced parts: undefined
- Target scrap rate: undefined
How to use the result
- Use it for production dashboards, material reviews, machine comparisons, and quote updates.
- It does not distinguish failure modes; track root causes separately for warping, porosity, support damage, or dimensional drift.
Common questions
- Should customer returns count as scrap? Include them if your scrap metric covers post-shipment rejects; otherwise track returns separately.
- Can I use build count instead of part count? Yes if every build is comparable, but part count is better for mixed build sizes.
- What does a positive gap mean? Actual scrap is below target, leaving that many percentage points of margin before the limit.
- How does this affect cost? Higher scrap increases material, machine, labor, and lead-time allowances for accepted parts.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.