Production Ramp, Scale-Up & Launch Readiness worked example

Launch Delay Cost at 50% share of burn truly unrecoverable: a worked example in production ramp, scale-up & launch readiness

Suppose share of burn truly unrecoverable falls to 50%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate the total exposure when a product launch slips past its committed start-of-production date during ramp-up.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Days launch slips past SOP date: 30 days (held at the documented default)
  • Daily burn during the slip: 18,000 $/day (held at the documented default)
  • Share of burn truly unrecoverable: 50 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 70)
  • One-time penalty and expedite charges: 45,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Launch delay cost = days slipped x daily burn x unrecoverable share + one-time penalty charges.
  • Total launch delay cost works out to 315,000 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Launch delay cost per unit works out to 10,500 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable launch delay cost works out to 270,000 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed launch delay cost adder works out to 45,000 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of burn truly unrecoverable sits at 70% and the headline result is 423,000 $, this scenario comes in 25.53% below the baseline at 315,000 $.
  • It multiplies days slipped by daily burn and the unrecoverable share, then adds one-time penalty and expedite charges to get total delay cost and cost per delayed day. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total launch delay cost: 315,000 $ (headline result)
  • Launch delay cost per unit: 10,500 $ / piece
  • Variable launch delay cost: 270,000 $
  • Fixed launch delay cost adder: 45,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Launch Delay Cost calculator, set share of burn truly unrecoverable to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.