Refractories, Furnace Linings & Foundry Consumables worked example

Brick Count at 65% crew and equipment uptime during relining: a worked example

This worked example runs the brick count numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 65% crew and equipment uptime during relining instead of the typical 90%. The Brick Count metric tells a refractory crew how many sound, in-service bricks a furnace or ladle reline will actually deliver once downtime and placement rejects are subtracted from the theoretical total.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Refractory bricks laid per install cycle: 4 units / cycle (held at the documented default)
  • Available brick-laying cycles in the campaign: 480 cycles (held at the documented default)
  • Crew and equipment uptime during relining: 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)
  • First-pass brick placement yield (no cracks or rejects): 97 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross brick count capacity = units per cycle × available cycles.
  • Good output capacity works out to 1,211 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross capacity works out to 1,920 units at these inputs.
  • Uptime loss works out to 672 units at these inputs.
  • Yield loss works out to 37.44 units at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where crew and equipment uptime during relining sits at 90% and the headline result is 1,676 units, this scenario comes in 27.78% below the baseline at 1,211 units.
  • Use it when planning a furnace, ladle, or kiln reline to convert a nominal laying rate into a realistic good-brick count for ordering and scheduling. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Good output capacity: 1,211 units (headline result)
  • Gross capacity: 1,920 units
  • Uptime loss: 672 units
  • Yield loss: 37.44 units

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Brick Count calculator, set crew and equipment uptime during relining to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.