How do you calculate rework cost per machine?

Total rework cost divided by machines built. Here 400 kiosks at $145 rework each and 8% incidence gives $4,640 variable, plus a $5,000 bay setup, for $9,640 total — which is $24.10 per machine built across the whole run.

What counts as rework cost on a kiosk?

The labor to diagnose and fix, replacement parts, retest time, and the fixed cost of the rework bay itself. This calculator splits it into a variable adder ($4,640) that scales with fallout and a fixed adder ($5,000) that you pay regardless of volume.

Is $24.10 per machine a lot of rework cost?

For a kiosk selling in the thousands of dollars it's small, but at 400 units it's $9,640 of margin gone. The insight is that 8% incidence drives $4,640 — halving incidence to 4% would cut the variable portion roughly in half.

Rework cost vs scrap cost — which is worse?

Rework recovers the unit but consumes labor, parts, and retest; scrap loses the whole build. For expensive kiosks rework is usually cheaper than scrap, but if per-machine rework approaches the build cost, scrapping and rebuilding may be the better call.

Why include the fixed bay setup cost?

Because a dedicated rework bay, fixtures, and test gear cost money whether you rework one kiosk or a hundred. Ignoring it understates true cost of quality; here it's $5,000 of the $9,640 total — over half at this volume.

How do I lower rework cost on a kiosk line?

Attack incidence first — it's the multiplier on the variable cost. Better incoming inspection, supplier quality, and firmware validation cut the 8% figure. Spreading the fixed $5,000 bay cost over more units also lowers the per-machine number.

Vending, Kiosk & Self-Service Equipment calculator

Rework Cost Calculator

Rework Cost tells a self-service equipment builder how much a run's rework actually costs once you combine the per-machine labor and parts of fixing failed kiosks with the fixed overhead of standing up a rework bay. Quality engineers and cost estimators use it to price the true cost of quality into a kiosk program and to justify spending on test coverage or supplier quality upstream. It matters because rework on a finished kiosk — pulling a stuck bill validator, reflashing a controller, re-cabling a touchscreen — is far more expensive than catching the same fault at incoming inspection, and that cost hides in overhead unless you make it explicit.

What this calculator does

Estimates rework cost on a vending and kiosk build, covering technician labor, replacement parts, and rework bay setup.
A production engineer quantifies expected rework on a kiosk build to justify upstream fixes to wiring, vend mechanisms, or panel fit.
It computes total rework cost as reworked-kiosk volume times per-machine rework cost plus a fixed bay setup, and divides by machines built for a per-unit figure.

Formula used

Rework Cost = Machines Built x Rework Labor+Parts x Rework Incidence% + Rework Bay Setup
Per-machine rework cost = Rework Cost / Machines Built

Inputs explained

Kiosks built in the period:
Rework labor plus parts per reworked kiosk:
Share of kiosks sent to rework:
Fixed rework bay setup cost:

How to use the result

Use it when building a cost-of-quality case, quoting a program with expected fallout, or comparing rework spend against an upstream prevention investment.
It uses a single average per-machine rework cost, so a run with a few catastrophic teardowns and many quick fixes will be mis-estimated unless you segment the incidence.

Current U.S. benchmarks

Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026), up 41.5% in a year, and U.S. industrial electricity averages 8.66 cents per kWh. Both feed electrified-hardware unit economics.
Steel mill PPI stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).

Common questions

How do you calculate rework cost per machine? Total rework cost divided by machines built. Here 400 kiosks at $145 rework each and 8% incidence gives $4,640 variable, plus a $5,000 bay setup, for $9,640 total — which is $24.10 per machine built across the whole run.
What counts as rework cost on a kiosk? The labor to diagnose and fix, replacement parts, retest time, and the fixed cost of the rework bay itself. This calculator splits it into a variable adder ($4,640) that scales with fallout and a fixed adder ($5,000) that you pay regardless of volume.
Is $24.10 per machine a lot of rework cost? For a kiosk selling in the thousands of dollars it's small, but at 400 units it's $9,640 of margin gone. The insight is that 8% incidence drives $4,640 — halving incidence to 4% would cut the variable portion roughly in half.
Rework cost vs scrap cost — which is worse? Rework recovers the unit but consumes labor, parts, and retest; scrap loses the whole build. For expensive kiosks rework is usually cheaper than scrap, but if per-machine rework approaches the build cost, scrapping and rebuilding may be the better call.
Why include the fixed bay setup cost? Because a dedicated rework bay, fixtures, and test gear cost money whether you rework one kiosk or a hundred. Ignoring it understates true cost of quality; here it's $5,000 of the $9,640 total — over half at this volume.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.