The formula
wastage % = (issued kg − good output kg) ÷ issued kg × 100
Example: 500 kg issued, 462 kg in good product. Wastage = 38 kg, or 7.6%.
Not all waste is the same
- Seconds: sellable at a lower price - still stock, still value
- Scrap: sold by weight, a small recovery
- Byproduct or reclaim: goes back into another product at its own rate
- True loss: gone, and the only number that should be argued about
Where the standard should come from
Not from a book and not from memory. Take the jobs that ran cleanly on your own floor and measure them. That becomes the standard, and every new job gets a verdict against it. The argument on the floor ends because the number is your own.
Questions people also ask
What is a normal wastage percentage?
It depends entirely on the process - a few percent for simple moulding, much more for cutting from sheet or trimming heavy flash. Your own clean jobs are the only honest benchmark.
Stop calculating this by hand
Aakar One does this arithmetic for every product and every size, then carries the result into the quote, the job card, stock and GST. Manufacturing ERP with CAD built in, made in India.