Six numbers that cost your plant money every year — and can be fixed without a big project
Ramp-up time, fault finding, paperwork before the audit, knowledge walking out the door. Enter your own numbers and see in two minutes what adds up — without a new project and without a new machine.
Production employeesoperators, floaters, setters, shift leaders
staff+
Who counts as a production employee? Everyone working in production who gets an account: operators, floaters, setters, shift leaders. Administration, sales and engineering are not counted here. This number multiplies almost every category and is therefore the most important value in the whole calculator.
Benefit drivers
“Adjust values” opens your company’s parameters · the check mark switches a category off · the calculator icon shows the calculation
Values marked in green are the levers Leanbyte and AI act on directly. All other fields describe your situation today.
Employee turnoverSOURCED
%+
What is employee turnover? The share of the workforce that leaves and must be replaced each year — resignations, retirements, expiring contracts. Every replacement triggers a full ramp-up. You will find the figure in your HR statistics, usually as “turnover rate”.Source: Manufacturing 17.7 % (2023) — bkvfirmenservice
Internal reassignmentsYOUR DATAcounted at half the ramp-up time
%+
What counts as an internal reassignment? New hires are not the only people who need training. Internal reassignments covers everyone who changes station in-house: from line 2 to line 5, floaters covering several workplaces, returners after parental leave or long illness, moves caused by a new product or a changeover. They need less training than a new hire because the plant, the safety rules and the environment are already familiar — which is why this share counts at half the ramp-up time.
–
Time to full performanceSOURCED
days+
What does “full performance” mean? The time from day one until someone reaches cycle time and quality on their own and consistently. It does not mean the first-day induction, nor the probation period. At complex stations this value is considerably higher than at simple assembly workplaces.Source: 4–8 weeks at assembly and inspection workplaces — CSP 2026
Productivity gapASSUMPTIONno source — ask the customer
%+
What does productivity gap mean? A new employee does not stand idle for weeks — they produce from day one, just more slowly, with more questions, more scrap and more rework. The Productivity gap is the average gap to full output across the entire ramp-up period. Without this factor the calculation would treat the whole ramp-up as a total loss — exactly the objection with which finance kills a business case.
–
Reduction through worker guidanceSOURCEDLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
What shortens the ramp-up? Instead of learning by doing next to a colleague, the new hire works step by step: image, video and check point right at the workplace, in their own language. Mistakes are noticed earlier, questions disappear. The value describes how much sooner full output is reached.Source: 30–50 % — CSP · working times −20–30 %, errors −51 % — flowdit 2026
Labour cost per employeeSOURCED
€/month+
Which costs are meant? Full employer cost per production employee and month: gross pay plus social contributions, levies and accident insurance. Not net pay and not gross alone — otherwise the entire benefit is understated by roughly a fifth.Sources: €2,958 gross per month — jobvector 2026 · employer share 21.15 % + 2–4 % levies — zep 2026
Attendance days per monthDERIVED–
days+
Why attendance days instead of working days? Days per month someone is actually present — after holidays, sickness and public holidays. Because pay continues on days off, an attendance day costs more than a calendar working day. Using 20 days understates the daily rate.
Mentoring share of onboardingASSUMPTION
%+
Why does mentoring cost extra? Share of the ramp-up during which an experienced colleague stands alongside instead of producing. This effort appears on no cost centre, yet it is real: the supervisor is missing elsewhere during that time. It is valued at a skilled rate, not an operator rate.
Hourly rate supervisor / trainerDERIVEDwho accompanies the new hire
€/h+
Who mentors the ramp-up? Usually the shift supervisor, a team leader or an experienced colleague acting as mentor. Derivation: about €4,800 gross per month plus 22 % employer contributions divided by 160 hours gives roughly €37/h — rounded up to 40. This rate applies to group 1 only; work planning and QM have their own fields.
+
Who does this hourly rate apply to? Full cost per hour for supervisors, trainers, work planning or QM: gross pay plus employer contributions divided by working hours. Applies to every driver where the time is spent not by an operator but by a skilled employee or manager.
Instructions per yearYOUR DATAnewly created or updated
+
How many instructions are produced per year? All work instructions created or revised: new products, changeovers, process changes, audit findings, complaints. Anyone claiming they never update usually does not have a small volume but outdated documents.
Effort per instruction todayYOUR DATAno benchmark available
h+
What does this effort include? The time from observing the process to the approved instruction: writing, illustrating, formatting, aligning with the department, approving, distributing. Ask the customer, do not estimate — the range between plants is wide.
Time saved through AIOUR OWN FIGURELEANBYTE EFFECTLeanbyte figure, no external source
%+
Where does the saving come from? Record a video, the system generates the structured draft with steps and check points, the specialist reviews and approves. Writing disappears, reviewing remains — which is why the saving is high but never complete.
Hourly rate work planning specialistDERIVEDwho writes and approves instructions
€/h+
Who creates the instructions? Usually work planning or a production planner with a technician or master craftsman qualification, sometimes together with the process owner. Derivation: about €4,600 gross plus 22 % employer contributions divided by 160 hours gives roughly €35/h — set at 38 here. Independent of the rates in groups 1 and 6.
Revenue per employeeSOURCED
T€+
What is this value for? Annual revenue divided by all employees. It turns a headcount into a revenue figure without the customer having to disclose their numbers in a first conversation. As soon as the real revenue is known, it belongs in the line below.Source: In German mechanical engineering one employee generates about €215,200 in revenue (VDMA) — VDMA / Statista. In automotive and chemicals the figure is considerably higher, in labour-intensive sectors lower.
Production share of total workforceASSUMPTIONRevenue is generated by everyone, only production is counted here
%+
Why this intermediate step? Only production employees are counted here, but revenue is generated by everyone — including administration, sales, engineering and maintenance. Without this conversion the site revenue would be set far too low and the quality-cost driver too small.
Revenue per siteCALCULATED–
Mio €+
Where does this number come from? Calculated from the two lines above: headcount divided by the production share gives the total workforce, multiplied by revenue per employee. If you know the real revenue, enter it directly — it stays until headcount or production share is changed.
Cost of poor quality (COPQ)SOURCED
%+
What belongs to COPQ? Cost of poor quality: everything defects cost after they have happened — scrap, rework, sorting campaigns, complaints, special freight, contractual penalties, goodwill. Inspection and prevention costs are not included; they belong to quality costs but not to the cost of poor quality.Source: 2–5 % of revenue, 70–80 % invisible — symestic
Addressable shareSOURCED
%+
What is addressable? Not every defect can be prevented by better instructions. Storage damage, a material batch outside tolerance or a machine failure remains, no matter how good the guidance is. This share defines which part of the quality cost is within reach of standardisation and qualification at all.Source: Maschine und Material verursachen 50–70 % der defects, der Rest people/method/measurement — symestic
Avoidable shareASSUMPTIONLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
Why such a low value? It describes how much of the addressable share actually disappears — the weakest value in the whole chain. Four multiplied factors make any number arbitrary, so it is deliberately kept small. In a conversation it is better to show the size of the block and ask what one percentage point would be worth.
Workforce aged 55 to 65SOURCED
%+
Why is this figure so strong? Share of the workforce between 55 and 65. You can verify it from your HR list within minutes — which makes it the most convincing figure in the calculator. And it is not a forecast, it is a fixed timetable.Source: Manufacturing is among the sectors with more than a quarter of the workforce aged 55 to under 65 — German Federal Employment Agency 2025
Retirements per yearDERIVED–
+
Who is a critical knowledge holder? Not every retirement tears a hole. This means the people where everyone knows: when they go, something is missing that is written down nowhere. Typically setters, maintenance staff and long-serving line leaders — the ones you call when something breaks.Derivation: The 55–65 share spreads across 10 birth years — one tenth leaves each year. Nationwide: 13.3 million people in the labour force, 30 % of all, reach retirement age by 2040 — Destatis 2026
–Share of critical knowledge holdersYOUR DATAWho leaves a gap nobody fills straight away?
Annual salary knowledge holderYOUR DATAfull cost of setters, maintenance staff, line leaders
€/year+
Why a separate value? Critical knowledge holders are rarely semi-skilled operators but setters, maintenance staff or long-serving line leaders — their full cost is above the production average. That is why there is a separate field here instead of the labour cost from group 1. Default: €48,000 full employer cost per year, about 11 % above the average operator.
Loss per knowledge holderSOURCED
annualsalaries+
Why measured in annual salaries? The effort until somebody else has rebuilt this knowledge, expressed in annual salaries of the position concerned. It includes searching and trial and error, the longer ramp-up of the successor, mistakes in the meantime and lost efficiency. The BVMW cites up to 2.5 — the default is deliberately below that.Source: The BVMW puts efficiency losses from missing tacit knowledge at up to 2.5 annual salaries — vbw / BVMW · around 90 % of company knowledge is tacit; new employees need 1.5–2 years to reach their predecessor’s level of experience
Secured through documentationASSUMPTIONLEANBYTE EFFECTvideo, checklist, knowledge graph instead of an exit interview
%+
What can actually be secured? The share of experience knowledge that video, checklist and knowledge graph can preserve. Never all of it: intuition, an ear for the machine and a feel for the job cannot be fully written down. What can be captured are movements, sequences, fault patterns and fixes.
Loss potential per year
–Safety briefings per employee per yearSOURCEDannual briefing + hazardous substances + ad-hoc briefings
×+
Why several times a year? At minimum the annual mandatory briefing under the Occupational Safety Act, plus the hazardous substances briefing and ad-hoc briefings for new machines, after accidents or changed procedures. For minors the cycle is every six months.Source: German Occupational Safety Act § 12 together with DGUV Regulation 1 § 4 — initial briefing before starting work, then at least annually, documented in an audit-proof way, retained for at least two years. Hazardous Substances Ordinance § 14 requires an additional annual briefing, Youth Employment Act § 29 every six months for minors. — TÜV Nord · documentation duty
Admin effort per briefing and personYOUR DATAlist, signature, filing, chasing absentees
min+
What is administrative effort? Not the briefing itself but the paperwork around it: keeping the attendance list, collecting signatures, filing, chasing and repeating for those who missed it, and finding everything again before the audit. The briefing time itself remains, it is required by law.
Reduction through automatic recordsASSUMPTIONLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
What does the system automate? Attendance, comprehension check and evidence are created in the system while the briefing happens. A list shows due and missing briefings instead of tracking them by hand. The record is audit-proof and available instantly.
Maintaining the skills matrixYOUR DATAusually Excel today — several versions, no expiry tracking
h/week+
What does maintaining the matrix cost? The ongoing effort of keeping the skills matrix current: adding new employees, recording qualifications, finding expired certificates, merging versions from several shift leaders. In Excel the effort lies mainly in searching and reconciling.
Reduction through automatic matrixASSUMPTIONLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
What does the automatic matrix change? The matrix fills itself from completed training and briefings, deadlines are monitored, every entry is linked to its evidence. Version conflicts and manual expiry checks disappear — the most critical element of the matrix.Context: Unsolved in Excel: version control, expiry monitoring of validity dates, audit trail, links to evidence. Validity dates are considered the most critical element of the matrix. — symestic 2026
audits per yearYOUR DATAcertification, surveillance, customer audits
×+
Which audits count? Every review where qualifications and briefings must be evidenced: certification and surveillance audits (ISO 9001, IATF 16949, IFS), customer audits and internal audits. At automotive suppliers customer audits are often the larger block.
Preparation effort per auditNO BENCHMARKgathering evidence · 20 days = 1 month
person-days+
What counts as preparation? The person-days spent gathering evidence before an audit — not the audit itself. 20 days equal one person-month. Since there is no industry benchmark for this effort, the figure should be asked of the customer.
Reduction through one-click evidenceASSUMPTIONLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
How much does one click save? The share that disappears when every record is available on demand instead of being gathered from folders, drives and Excel versions. Answering during the audit itself also gets faster, but that is not counted here.Context: With paper and Excel, training records sit separately in folders — in an audit that means a trip to the archive, digitally it is one click. Typical audit question: “Is Mr Schmidt qualified for line 3? Which document proves it? When does it expire?” — symestic
Hourly rate quality management specialistDERIVEDQM officers, safety specialists, audit owners
€/h+
Who maintains records and audits? QM officers, occupational safety specialists or the audit owners — in smaller plants often the same person as the production manager. Derivation: about €5,200 gross plus 22 % employer contributions divided by 160 hours gives roughly €40/h — set at 42 here because audit preparation often ties up management. Independent of the rates in groups 1 and 2.
Breakdown
–Machines per siteYOUR DATA
machines+
Which machines count? Machines where a stoppage actually costs output. Manual workplaces without a machine do not count, nor do machines with enough buffer before and after them.
Breakdowns per machine per monthYOUR DATA
×+
What is a breakdown? Unplanned interruptions per machine and month that require intervention — from a short jam to a real failure. Planned changeovers and maintenance do not count because they are scheduled and are not shortened by knowledge.Context: According to the ABB study “Value of Reliability”, 67 % of industrial plants in Germany experience unplanned downtime at least once a month — IT&Production
MTTR per breakdownSOURCED
min+
What is MTTR? Mean time to repair: the time from the fault report to the restart. It includes diagnosis, repair, testing and ramp-up. Many plants already record this value — usually in the maintenance system or the MES.Source: Under 30 minutes for simple machines, typically 1 to 4 hours for complex ones such as hydraulic injection moulding or multi-stage assembly lines — symestic
Share for diagnosis and information searchASSUMPTIONMTTR covers diagnosis, repair, testing, restart
%+
Why only part of the MTTR? Only fault finding and gathering information can be shortened by better knowledge. Turning screws, fetching spare parts and restarting take just as long. This share defines what a knowledge graph can influence at all.
Reduction of diagnosis timeSOURCEDLEANBYTE EFFECT
%+
Where does the reduction come from? The chat knows the fault history: what caused it last time, which measure helped, which checks in which order. Without documentation the same fault takes just as long to diagnose the third time as the first.Source: Digital assistance can cut diagnosis time by up to 67 %, so that even staff without special training can apply fast fixes — maintenance-messen 2025 · Without a documented history, diagnosis time doubles when the same fault recurs; an experienced technician diagnoses in 15 minutes what takes a less experienced colleague 2 hours — symestic
Downtime cost per hourSOURCED
€/h+
What does an hour of downtime cost? Machine hour rate plus labour cost that keeps running plus lost contribution margin. Knock-on stoppages down the chain, start-up losses and rush surcharges are not included — in practice the total cost is therefore even higher. Considerably so in just-in-time production with contractual penalties.Source: Machine hour rate typically €80–200/h in discrete manufacturing, plus €60–120 of lost contribution margin — total cost €140 to €270/h per machine. Indirect costs double to triple the pure hourly rate. — symestic
Breakdowns per year · downtime saved
–Summary
All active categories at a glance
Savings potential per year
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Sources
Where each number comes from — and which ones have no source
Sourced
- Revenue per employee — about €215,200 in German mechanical engineering (VDMA). Mechanical engineering accounts for roughly 12 % of total manufacturing revenue; automotive and chemicals are considerably higher. The figure is a default and should be replaced by the customer’s real number. VDMA / Statista
- Downtime cost — machine hour rate typically €80–200/h in discrete manufacturing, plus €60–120 of lost contribution margin; total cost €140 to €270/h per machine. Indirect costs (knock-on stoppages, start-up losses, overtime) double to triple the real cost. symestic · 67 % of industrial plants in Germany have unplanned downtime at least monthly (ABB, “Value of Reliability”). IT&Production
- Diagnosis time — MTTR covers diagnosis, repair, testing and restart; typically under 30 minutes on simple machines and 1–4 hours on complex ones. Without a documented fault history, diagnosis time doubles on repeat faults, and an experienced technician diagnoses in 15 minutes what takes a less experienced colleague two hours. symestic · Digital assistance can cut diagnosis time by up to 67 %. maintenance-messen 2025 · Repair guides and troubleshooting checklists shorten diagnosis time considerably. CETPM
- Mandatory briefings — German Occupational Safety Act § 12 requires workplace-specific briefings; DGUV Regulation 1 § 4 adds detail: initial briefing before work starts, then at least once a year, documented. Every six months for minors (Youth Employment Act § 29), plus at least annually for hazardous substances (Hazardous Substances Ordinance § 14). Skipping briefings risks fines and liability. Records must be kept for at least two years and presented on inspection by the accident insurer or the labour inspectorate. The documentation must prove that a briefing took place and what it covered. TÜV Nord · documentation duty
- Skills matrix as an audit requirement — for plants certified to IATF 16949, IFS Food, BRCGS or ISO 9001 this is not optional best practice but an audit requirement. ISO 9001 clause 7.2 and IATF 16949 clause 7.2 demand evidence of competence and a documented effectiveness assessment. Unsolved in Excel: version control, expiry monitoring, audit trail and links to evidence — validity dates count as the most critical element. In a liability case the matrix is the decisive document; anyone unable to prove qualification has a problem of proof. symestic 2026
- Demographics — 13.3 million people in the labour force (30 % of the total) reach retirement age by 2040; at 5.5 million, those born 55–59 years ago are the largest age group of all. Destatis 2026 · By 2036 Germany will be short of 4.3 million workers, the labour force potential falls by 6.9 %. IW Cologne, June 2026 · Manufacturing has more than a quarter of its workforce aged 55–65. German Federal Employment Agency 2025
- Value of experience knowledge — efficiency losses from missing tacit knowledge of up to 2.5 annual salaries per departing knowledge holder. vbw / BVMW · Around 90 % of company knowledge is tacit and exists only in people’s heads; new employees need 1.5 to 2 years to reach their predecessor’s level of experience. overview of the research · Almost every second company has already seen measurable productivity losses from knowledge loss (GfWM). Alster Akademie
- Documentation time 30–90 min/day — for shift handovers, inspection records, production reports and deviation documentation. Reduction per record from 15–45 to 3–8 minutes. KI-Syndikat 2026
- Worker guidance — defects down to −51 %, working times −20 to −30 %, productivity up to +69 %. flowdit 2026
- Onboarding — 4–8 weeks to full output, reduction 30–50 %. CSP 2026
- Employee turnover — 17.7 % in manufacturing (2023). bkvfirmenservice
- Cost of poor quality — COPQ 2–5 % of revenue; machine and material cause 50–70 % of defects. symestic
- Digitalised information flow — mid-sized plants can redeploy on average two full-time staff in production management. verlinked
Not sourced
- Audit preparation in person-days — no benchmark found despite a targeted search. The literature describes the preparation steps (collecting evidence, pre-check, informing staff) but does not quantify the effort. The 20 person-days are an experience value and must be verified with the customer.
- Effort per work instruction — no statistics on creation effort in hours.
- 90 % faster generation — Leanbyte’s own figure. The external reference for AI-assisted production documentation is around 80 %.
- Productivity gap, mentoring share, avoidable defect share — experience values without a source.
Preview of the report your stakeholders can pass on internally.
Leanbyte · as of August 2026