How do you calculate test yield for printed electronics?

Divide the number of circuits that passed electrical test by the total tested, then multiply by 100. With 8 passing out of 250 tested, yield is 8 ÷ 250 = 3.2%.

What is a good test yield for flexible hybrid electronics?

Mature screen-printed and FHE lines commonly run 90-98% first-pass; developmental or fine-line inkjet processes often sit at 70-90%. Anything in single digits, like the 3.2% here, signals a process that is effectively out of control.

Why is my printed circuit yield so low?

The usual culprits are open traces from insufficient ink deposit, shorts from ink bleed or mesh marking, incomplete sintering leaving high resistance, and cracked interconnects on flex substrates. Isolate by failure mode before adjusting the press.

Is test yield the same as first-pass yield?

Here they are the same — this counts only circuits that passed on their first test with no rework. Rolled or final yield after rework and touch-up is a separate, higher number.

How is gap to target different from yield?

Yield is your actual result (3.2%); gap to target is how many percentage points you are below goal. Against a 95% target, the gap is 95 - 3.2 = 91.8 points, quantifying the improvement needed.

Does test yield account for defects per unit?

No. A circuit that passes counts fully even if it had a minor cosmetic flaw, and one that fails counts as a full loss regardless of how many defects it had. Use DPMO or defect density when you need severity-weighted data.

Printed Electronics & Flexible Hybrid Electronics calculator

Test Yield Calculator

Test yield is the share of printed or flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) circuits that pass electrical and functional test out of every unit tested in a run. Process engineers and quality teams on roll-to-roll and sheet-fed printing lines watch it as the single clearest signal of whether their conductive ink, sintering, and component-attach steps are under control. Because printed traces fail in ways rigid PCBs never do — open lines from ink flooding, silver migration, cracked flex joints — yield tells you far more than a defect count alone. A low or drifting yield on a screen-printed antenna or a printed sensor array is usually the first warning that a squeegee, mesh, or cure profile has moved.

What this calculator does

Test yield is the share of printed or flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) circuits that pass electrical and functional test out of every unit tested in a run.
Use it when test yield in printed electronics and flexible hybrid electronics needs a clean rate and gap-to-target you can put on a tier board.
It computes the fraction of tested circuits that passed as a percentage, then reports how many points short of your target yield the run landed.

Formula used

Test Yield rate = affected amount ÷ total amount
Gap to target = target rate - calculated rate

Inputs explained

Circuits passing electrical test:
Circuits tested in the run:
Target first-pass yield:

How to use the result

Use it at the end of each print-and-test lot, or per web zone on roll-to-roll, to grade the run and decide whether to release, sort, or hold for root-cause.
First-pass test yield does not capture latent field failures — a printed silver trace can pass continuity test yet fail after flex cycling or humidity aging, so pair it with reliability data.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for copper and brass mill shapes stands at 559.593 (BLS, May 2026), up 76.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move. Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026).
The U.S. has 11,261 computer and electronic products establishments employing about 815,443 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate test yield for printed electronics? Divide the number of circuits that passed electrical test by the total tested, then multiply by 100. With 8 passing out of 250 tested, yield is 8 ÷ 250 = 3.2%.
What is a good test yield for flexible hybrid electronics? Mature screen-printed and FHE lines commonly run 90-98% first-pass; developmental or fine-line inkjet processes often sit at 70-90%. Anything in single digits, like the 3.2% here, signals a process that is effectively out of control.
Why is my printed circuit yield so low? The usual culprits are open traces from insufficient ink deposit, shorts from ink bleed or mesh marking, incomplete sintering leaving high resistance, and cracked interconnects on flex substrates. Isolate by failure mode before adjusting the press.
Is test yield the same as first-pass yield? Here they are the same — this counts only circuits that passed on their first test with no rework. Rolled or final yield after rework and touch-up is a separate, higher number.
How is gap to target different from yield? Yield is your actual result (3.2%); gap to target is how many percentage points you are below goal. Against a 95% target, the gap is 95 - 3.2 = 91.8 points, quantifying the improvement needed.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.