Wire Drawing & Rod Processing worked example
Finished Wire Cost at 58% yield recovery factor: a worked example
This worked example runs the finished wire cost numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 58% yield recovery factor instead of the typical 80%. Finished wire cost is the fully loaded number a wire mill lives and dies by — what it truly costs to convert rod into a delivered, spec-compliant pound of drawn wire once yield loss and tooling are accounted for.
The inputs for this scenario
- Pounds of finished wire: 100 units (held at the documented default)
- Conversion cost per pound: 45 $ / unit (held at the documented default)
- Yield recovery factor: 58 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 80)
- Fixed tooling & setup cost: 250 $ (held at the documented default)
Working through the calculation
- The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Finished Wire Cost cost = quantity × rate × capture factor + fixed cost.
- Weighted cost works out to 2,860 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
- Per piece value works out to 28.6 $ / piece at these inputs.
- Captured value works out to 2,610 $ at these inputs.
- Fixed adjustment works out to 250 $ at these inputs.
How this compares with the baseline
- Against the tool's baseline example, where yield recovery factor sits at 80% and the headline result is 3,850 $, this scenario comes in 25.71% below the baseline at 2,860 $.
- Use it to build a quote, validate a standard cost, or test whether a job clears its margin before committing capacity. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.
Results at a glance
- Weighted cost: 2,860 $ (headline result)
- Per piece value: 28.6 $ / piece
- Captured value: 2,610 $
- Fixed adjustment: 250 $
Run it with your numbers
- To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Finished Wire Cost calculator, set yield recovery factor to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.