UV Curing calculator
UV Rework Cost Calculator
Cure defects don't just cost the price of the part — they cost rework labor (or scrap), the disposition decision, and shop overhead while the issue is being chased. This calculator stacks those four into a real total so you can size a defect event for COPQ reporting and build a defensible business case for whatever fix prevents it next time.
What this calculator does
- Total the rework / scrap cost for UV cure defects: rework labor, scrap material, and disposition / overhead — the dollars an undercure escape actually costs.
- Use it after a defect event to size the loss, build the business case for tightening the cure spec, or quantify the savings of preventing the next escape.
- Returns the all-in cost of a UV cure defect event: rework / scrap, disposition labor, and overhead / customer impact.
Formula used
- Variable cost = defective parts × cost per part
- Total event cost = variable cost + disposition + overhead / customer impact
- Cost per defective part = total event cost ÷ defective parts
Inputs explained
- Defective parts: Total parts in the affected lot, batch, or escape.
- Rework or scrap cost per part: Material + value-add up to UV cure step (scrap), or rework labor + materials (rework).
- Disposition / containment labor: Engineering, QA, and supervisor time to investigate, sort, and disposition the lot.
- Overhead / customer impact: Extra freight, customer notifications, line slowdown, expedite cost.
How to use the result
- Use it after every meaningful defect event for COPQ reporting, when building a business case for prevention investment, and to compare prevention cost vs the defect cost it would have avoided.
- Single-event cost. Doesn't capture downstream costs that show up later — warranty claims, customer-imposed audits, lost-of-confidence pricing concessions. For high-impact escapes, multiply the headline number by 2–4× to account for those tail costs.
Common questions
- How do I figure rework vs scrap cost per part? Scrap: material cost + value-add up to UV cure step (the cure has already been done; the part is fully built and now wasted). Rework: rework labor + any consumables + the cost of running the part through cure again (energy, lamp wear). Often rework is 30–60% of scrap on UV defects, but only if the part can actually be re-cured without surface damage.
- Why include disposition labor separately? It's often the largest line on small-lot defects. A 50-part defective lot might be $400 of rework but $1,500 of engineering / QA / supervisor time to sort, root-cause, and disposition. Without that line, the calc understates true cost and prevention investment looks oversized.
- Customer found the escape — how much extra? Doubles or triples the cost minimum. A customer-found cure defect adds: customer notification, customer audit cost, return-merchandise freight, replacement freight, and a corrective action / 8D effort that can run 20–80 engineering hours. Roll those into the overhead / customer impact line.
- How does this drive prevention decisions? If a single defect event costs $4,000 and happens twice a quarter, that's $32,000/yr. Anything under that cost (radiometer cadence, dose margin tightening, an LED retrofit) that eliminates the events pays back inside a year. Use this calc as the denominator on any UV cure prevention business case.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.