Production Ramp, Scale-Up & Launch Readiness worked example

Production Trial Cost at 61% share of hours charged to trial, not saleable: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop share of hours charged to trial, not saleable to 61%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate the cost of a pre-production trial run used to prove out tooling, process, and quality before full ramp.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Trial run hours on the line: 40 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Fully loaded trial run rate: 320 $/hr (held at the documented default)
  • Share of hours charged to trial, not saleable: 61 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 85)
  • Trial materials and scrapped parts: 6,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Production trial cost = trial run hours x loaded run rate x trial-charged share + materials and scrap.
  • Total production trial cost works out to 13,808 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Production trial cost per unit works out to 345 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable production trial cost works out to 7,808 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed production trial cost adder works out to 6,000 $ at these inputs.

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 18.2% below the baseline at 13,808 $.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to share of hours charged to trial, not saleable, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. 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: 13,808 $ (headline result)
  • Production trial cost per unit: 345 $ / piece
  • Variable production trial cost: 7,808 $
  • Fixed production trial cost adder: 6,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Production Trial Cost calculator, set share of hours charged to trial, not saleable to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.