How to Figure Machine Hours Per Unit

Divide machine hours by total units produced for valuable information on factory production.

Machine hours include all of the costs incurred by a factory, such as raw materials and electricity. To make wise manufacturing decisions, proprietors often need to know how many of a given number of machine hours go into a single unit of output.

Instructions

1. Choose a period of time that will make a good sample for your calculations. You will need to select a span during which you are certain about how many units were produced. For example, if you run a chair factory, you might choose a period of one day, with the key certainty that 200 chairs rolled off the line in that period.

2. Gather data on how many machines were operating and for how long. If you had 100 machines running for 24 hours, and two running for 50 hours, total machine hours would be equivalent to (100 x 24) + (2 x 50), or 2,500 total machine hours.

3. Divide total machine hours by units produced. In the example, this would be 2,500 hours divided by 200 units: 12.5 machine hours per unit.

References

• businessdictionary.com
• futureaccountant.com