Production Ramp, Scale-Up & Launch Readiness worked example

Production Trial Cost at 98% share of hours charged to trial, not saleable: a worked example

What does the result look like when share of hours charged to trial, not saleable reaches 98%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. Use it when planning a process validation or first-article trial and you need to budget the burned hours and scrapped material before committing the run.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Trial run hours on the line: 40 hr (unchanged)
  • Fully loaded trial run rate: 320 $/hr (unchanged)
  • Share of hours charged to trial, not saleable: 98 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 85)
  • Trial materials and scrapped parts: 6,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Production trial cost = trial run hours x loaded run rate x trial-charged share + materials and scrap) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 18,544 $ for total production trial cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 464 $ / piece for production trial cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12,544 $ for variable production trial cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6,000 $ for fixed production trial cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of hours charged to trial, not saleable sits at 85% and the headline result is 16,880 $, this scenario comes in 9.86% above the baseline at 18,544 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when share of hours charged to trial, not saleable is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. The non-saleable share is an estimate; early trials often yield little sellable product, so a low share can badly understate cost. It also excludes engineering time spent analyzing the trial unless folded into the loaded rate.

Results at a glance

  • Total production trial cost: 18,544 $ (headline result)
  • Production trial cost per unit: 464 $ / piece
  • Variable production trial cost: 12,544 $
  • Fixed production trial cost adder: 6,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Production Trial Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.