Sheet Metal Stamping & Press Lines calculator
Progressive Die Output Calculator
Estimate finished good parts from a progressive die in a scheduled window. Enter proven stroke speed, parts per stroke, stops and an observed reject sample.
What this calculator does
- Estimate good finished parts from press speed, parts per stroke, planned stops and observed reject counts.
Formula used
- Running hours = scheduled hours − stop hours
- Total parts = strokes per minute × 60 × running hours × parts per stroke
- Good yield = (sample total − sample rejects) ÷ sample total
- Good parts = total parts × good yield
- Scheduled good rate = good parts ÷ scheduled hours
Inputs explained
- Sustained Stroke Rate: Proven setup speed while this die is cycling.
- Finished Parts per Stroke: Finished parts released per steady production stroke.
- Scheduled Production Window: Hours scheduled to produce, excluding unscheduled breaks.
- Planned Stop Time: Logged comparable stops or the next window stop budget.
- Observed Sample Total: Total finished parts checked on a comparable run.
- Observed Sample Rejects: Rejected parts within that same counted sample.
How to use the result
- Best suited to booking a progressive die run, checking a multiple-out die plan.
- Expected part counts may be fractional; round down when committing whole pieces. This estimate does not prove press tonnage, feed timing or material capacity.
Current U.S. benchmarks
- 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).
Common questions
- Do all die stations produce finished parts? No. Enter finished parts released per stroke, rather than the number of forming or piercing stations.
- Why do I need reject counts? Reject counts give an observed good fraction. Use a sample from the same tool, material and operating speed.
- How do I account for filling the die? Budget start-up through steady production in stop time. Use steady production parts for the yield sample so start-up rejects are not deducted again.
- Does zero available running time return zero parts? Yes. Stops equal to the scheduled window produce zero expected output; stops longer than that window are inconsistent.
Related guides
Last reviewed 2026-10-06.