How do I calculate the true cost per repaired unit at a depot?

Cost Per Repaired Unit sums Diagnostic Labor Cost, Board Rework Time labor, Component Replacement Cost, and test time from Burn-In Test Capacity, then divides by First-Pass Repair Yield so failed repairs carry their share. Subtract Parts Salvage Value and Cannibalization Value from harvested boards. Add an allocation for No-Fault-Found units that consume diagnostic time but generate no repair. That fully loaded number is what your Repair Margin and contract pricing must clear.

How does no-fault-found rate affect depot profitability?

No-Fault-Found units still consume Diagnostic Labor Cost, bench time, and test fixture capacity while producing no billable repair. The No-Fault-Found Rate calculator quantifies that drag, and it feeds Cost Per Repaired Unit because the diagnostic cost of NFF units must be spread across the units you actually fix. A high NFF rate also inflates RMA Queue Lead Time. Tightening return screening or diagnostic scripts is often the fastest margin win.

When should a returned unit be refurbished versus replaced?

Use the Refurbish vs Replace Decision Score. It weighs Cost Per Repaired Unit and expected First-Pass Repair Yield against replacement cost, then adds Parts Salvage Value, Cannibalization Value, and Scrap Recovery Rate for units you cannot economically fix. If rework cost plus warranty reserve exceeds replacement value, or predicted yield is low for that failure mode, scrap and harvest. Factor in Electronics Warranty Reserve so early re-failures do not erase the margin.

How do I forecast RMA queue lead time and SLA penalty risk?

RMA Queue Lead Time models throughput from arrival rate, Technician Utilization, Burn-In Test Capacity, and Test Fixture Utilization to project how long units wait before shipping back. The SLA Penalty Risk Score then compares that lead time against contract turnaround commitments and flags the probability of a breach. If burn-in or fixtures are the constraint, adding bench techs will not shorten lead time; you need more test capacity.

How do I cost board-level rework like BGA reballing?

Board Rework Time covers general component swap labor, while BGA Reball/Reflow Labor Cost captures the added time for reflow, reballing, and inspection on ball-grid parts. Add Conformal Coat Removal Time when boards are coated, since stripping and reapplying coating adds real minutes. Combine these with Component Replacement Cost to get the full bench cost, then feed it into Cost Per Repaired Unit and Repair Margin for accurate quoting.

How do I decide where to spend engineering effort on recurring failures?

Run Failure Pareto Cost. It ranks failure modes not by frequency but by total cost, combining occurrence rate with the Board Rework Time, Component Replacement Cost, and yield hit each mode causes. A failure that is rare but requires BGA reflow can outrank a common cheap fix. Pair it with First-Pass Repair Yield to target the modes that both recur and drag down yield, then justify fixture or process fixes with the cost avoided.

Manufacturing calculator category

Electronics Repair, Refurbishment & Depot Operations calculators

This category covers the operational and financial math of an electronics repair depot, from the diagnostic bench through board rework, burn-in, and RMA return. It is for depot managers, bench technicians, and repair estimators who need to cost a repair, forecast throughput, and hold an SLA. The calculators here focus on the specific realities of board-level repair: diagnostics, yield, salvage, and turnaround.

What this hub covers

Calculators for electronics repair depots and refurbishment lines covering diagnostic labor, first-pass repair yield, board rework, RMA lead time, and cost per repaired unit.
Browse electronics repair, refurbishment & depot operations calculators for manufacturing planning, quoting, quality, capacity, and operations decisions.

Best calculators in this category

Diagnostic Labor Cost: Estimate diagnostic bench labor cost for returned electronics, circuit boards, power supplies, displays, modules, or industrial controls before a repair quote or warranty decision.
First-Pass Repair Yield: Measure the percentage of repaired electronics that pass final functional test the first time without additional troubleshooting, rework, or repeat bench time.
Board Rework Time: Estimate technician hours needed for board-level rework such as solder touch-up, connector repair, trace repair, capacitor replacement, or failed component removal.
Parts Salvage Value: Estimate recoverable value from harvested displays, boards, power supplies, connectors, batteries, housings, or modules pulled from non-repairable electronics.
Burn-In Test Capacity: Estimate good burn-in test capacity for repaired or refurbished electronics after rack slots, test cycles, uptime, and final pass yield are considered.
RMA Queue Lead Time: Estimate the labor hours needed to clear an RMA queue through triage, diagnostics, repair routing, or depot processing at the current completion pace.
No-Fault-Found Rate: Measure the share of returned electronics that pass diagnostics with no confirmed defect, helping quantify avoidable RMA volume and customer support burden.
Electronics Warranty Reserve: Estimate warranty reserve for returned electronics, replacement units, depot repairs, repeat failures, and field service claims.
Refurbish vs Replace Decision Score: Score whether a returned device, module, or board should be refurbished, repaired, harvested, scrapped, or replaced based on cost, risk, and test confidence.
Cost Per Repaired Unit: Estimate total and per-unit cost for depot repairs after labor, parts, test, freight, overhead, and fixed support costs are applied.
Component Replacement Cost: Estimate replacement-component cost for boards, displays, batteries, power supplies, connectors, fans, sensors, or modules used in electronics repair.
BGA Reball/Reflow Labor Cost: Estimate labor cost for BGA reball, reflow, solder-joint repair, X-ray review, stencil setup, and post-rework testing in a depot repair workflow.

Common manufacturing problems solved

electronics repair
refurbishment
depot operations
RMA
diagnostics
bench labor
repair cost
first-pass repair yield
functional test
quality

Live market signals for this industry

The producer price index for copper and brass mill shapes stands at 557.232 (BLS, Jun 2026), up 66.2% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move. Global copper trades at $13,552 per tonne (IMF via FRED, Jun 2026).
U.S. manufacturing runs at 75.6% of capacity (Federal Reserve, Jun 2026). New factory orders are up 7.4% year over year (Census).
The U.S. has 11,261 computer and electronic products establishments employing about 815,443 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Category questions

How do I calculate the true cost per repaired unit at a depot? Cost Per Repaired Unit sums Diagnostic Labor Cost, Board Rework Time labor, Component Replacement Cost, and test time from Burn-In Test Capacity, then divides by First-Pass Repair Yield so failed repairs carry their share. Subtract Parts Salvage Value and Cannibalization Value from harvested boards. Add an allocation for No-Fault-Found units that consume diagnostic time but generate no repair. That fully loaded number is what your Repair Margin and contract pricing must clear.
How does no-fault-found rate affect depot profitability? No-Fault-Found units still consume Diagnostic Labor Cost, bench time, and test fixture capacity while producing no billable repair. The No-Fault-Found Rate calculator quantifies that drag, and it feeds Cost Per Repaired Unit because the diagnostic cost of NFF units must be spread across the units you actually fix. A high NFF rate also inflates RMA Queue Lead Time. Tightening return screening or diagnostic scripts is often the fastest margin win.
When should a returned unit be refurbished versus replaced? Use the Refurbish vs Replace Decision Score. It weighs Cost Per Repaired Unit and expected First-Pass Repair Yield against replacement cost, then adds Parts Salvage Value, Cannibalization Value, and Scrap Recovery Rate for units you cannot economically fix. If rework cost plus warranty reserve exceeds replacement value, or predicted yield is low for that failure mode, scrap and harvest. Factor in Electronics Warranty Reserve so early re-failures do not erase the margin.
How do I forecast RMA queue lead time and SLA penalty risk? RMA Queue Lead Time models throughput from arrival rate, Technician Utilization, Burn-In Test Capacity, and Test Fixture Utilization to project how long units wait before shipping back. The SLA Penalty Risk Score then compares that lead time against contract turnaround commitments and flags the probability of a breach. If burn-in or fixtures are the constraint, adding bench techs will not shorten lead time; you need more test capacity.
How do I cost board-level rework like BGA reballing? Board Rework Time covers general component swap labor, while BGA Reball/Reflow Labor Cost captures the added time for reflow, reballing, and inspection on ball-grid parts. Add Conformal Coat Removal Time when boards are coated, since stripping and reapplying coating adds real minutes. Combine these with Component Replacement Cost to get the full bench cost, then feed it into Cost Per Repaired Unit and Repair Margin for accurate quoting.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.