Paste the garment operations and find out how many garments the line makes a day, how many operators each operation needs for demand, where the bottleneck is and what a minute costs.
Pre-sizing and estimating tool: results do not replace design, calculations or reports signed by a licensed professional, nor verification against the applicable codes and standards.
Actual time per garment at each operation (standard time ÷ operators ÷ efficiency), with the operators assigned. The dashed line is demand takt.
Operators assigned to each machine type and standard minutes of the garment on it.
Operators needed for demand and operators assigned from the available headcount, in steps of 0.5.
Take this page’s results to another calculator with the fields already filled in.
The calculation report gathers this page's inputs, results, equations, assumptions and references, with fields for project, engineer and revision. The full report also includes the charts and interpretations, in color. In the print dialog, choose Save as PDF.
It adds up the sewing operation times of a garment (the SAM), works out how many garments the line makes per day and per hour, how many operators each operation needs to meet demand and where the bottleneck is. Use it to plan a new style, set up the line or decide whether an order can ship on time.
From a time study (timing the operation several times and applying performance rating and allowances) or from predetermined time systems such as GSD. The time study calculator helps turn stopwatch readings into a standard time. Without your own data, start from a similar style and correct after the first run.
The T-shirt has 9 operations and a SAM of 4.50 min. With demand of 800 garments in 450 minutes, takt is 0.5625 min. The 13 operators at 75% efficiency, well assigned, deliver 843 garments a day (112.5 an hour); the bottlenecks are topstitch neckline, close side seams and trim and inspect, at 0.40 standard min per operator.
It is SAM divided by operators × bottleneck time. In the example, 4.50 ÷ (13 × 0.40) = 86.5%: 13.5% of paid time turns into waiting because operations do not split evenly among people. Well-balanced lines exceed 85%; below 75%, combine short operations or split long ones.
Capacity by minutes assumes all operator time becomes output: in the example, 13 × 450 × 75% ÷ 4.5 = 975 garments. Real output is limited by the slowest station and comes to 843. Planning on the first number is a common mistake that causes late orders.
In the example, a $41,600 monthly payroll divided by the minutes paid (13 × 450 × 21) gives $0.339 per paid minute, or $0.452 per productive minute at 75% efficiency. With the imbalance, labor comes to $2.35 per garment, versus $2.03 from SAM × productive minute. Take these figures to the garment cost calculator.
Assignment in half operators is a heuristic: it gives a good arrangement, not necessarily the optimum, and it ignores operation sequence and individual skills. Efficiency is the same for everyone, and absences, style changes and cutting delays cut real output. Use the result as a starting point and adjust on the floor.
Important notice: Indus Metrics tools produce estimates and pre-sizing results from the data you enter and from published engineering methods. They do not replace design, calculations or reports signed by a licensed professional engineer (PE), nor verification against the applicable codes, standards and regulations, such as OSHA rules and the ASME codes. Material and fuel properties vary: check manufacturer data or your own process analyses before deciding. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use.
© 2026 Indus Metrics. Found an error? Write to contato@seudominio.com.