Thermoforming & Vacuum Formed Products worked example

Tooling Amortization at 99% tool utilization efficiency: a worked example in thermoforming & vacuum formed products

Push tool utilization efficiency up to 99% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when tooling amortization in thermoforming and vacuum formed products is being committed and you need a throughput number you can defend.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Parts produced against the tool: 1,200 units (unchanged)
  • Amortization period runtime: 8 hr (unchanged)
  • Tool utilization efficiency: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 90)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Raw tooling amortization = completed output รท runtime) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 149 units for effective throughput, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 150 units for raw throughput.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 99 % for efficiency.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8 hr for runtime.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where tool utilization efficiency sits at 90% and the headline result is 135 units, this scenario comes in 10% above the baseline at 149 units.
  • It computes the raw amortization pace as parts produced divided by runtime, then multiplies by tool utilization to give the effective parts-per-hour rate the tool is recovering cost at. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Effective throughput: 149 units (headline result)
  • Raw throughput: 150 units
  • Efficiency: 99 %
  • Runtime: 8 hr

Run it with your numbers

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

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.