Can I enter good parts instead of strokes?

Use the press stroke counter. Parts per stroke and rejected parts prevent good-part counts from reliably identifying press cycles.

Should breaks be included in scheduled time?

Exclude breaks when production was not scheduled. Include a break only when the press was scheduled to continue running.

No running stroke rate exists when stops fill the entire window. Enter a window with positive cycling time.

No. Check good-part output alongside speed because rejected parts can rise as speed changes.

Sheet Metal Stamping & Press Lines calculator

Find the press stroke rate while cycling and across a scheduled window. Use a stroke counter, stop log and approved setup speed.

Measure press cycling speed from actual stroke counts and compare it with your approved setup speed.

Recorded Press Strokes: Counter difference over this scheduled window.
Scheduled Production Window: Production schedule, excluding breaks with no production planned.
Logged Stop Time: Stop log covering every interruption in the same window.
Approved Stroke Rate: Approved speed from this die and press setup card.

Best suited to auditing a press setup, comparing stop losses between shifts.
Does not establish a safe operating speed, feed timing or die protection settings.

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 381.162 (BLS, Aug 2026), up 23.4% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
U.S. iron and steel import customs value ran $2.2B in Aug 2026 (Census International Trade). The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $0.6B in the category that month. This dollar total mixes price, quantity, product mix, origin, and timing; it does not measure physical import volume or prove a tariff or reshoring effect.
The U.S. has 53,790 fabricated metal products establishments employing about 1,441,471 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Can I enter good parts instead of strokes? Use the press stroke counter. Parts per stroke and rejected parts prevent good-part counts from reliably identifying press cycles.
Should breaks be included in scheduled time? Exclude breaks when production was not scheduled. Include a break only when the press was scheduled to continue running.
What if the press never ran? No running stroke rate exists when stops fill the entire window. Enter a window with positive cycling time.
Does a higher stroke rate prove better output? No. Check good-part output alongside speed because rejected parts can rise as speed changes.

Last reviewed 2026-10-06.