MES & Shop FloorFree worksheetPDF, Excel, Word exportPackaging and Printing

Print Press Run Log Worksheet

Waste is the largest controllable cost on most presses, yet it is often tracked on paper or only at month end. This worksheet lets you log each job and see waste percent, speed and waste cost immediately, then export to Excel.

Download:

Total waste	Waste %	Units per minute	Waste cost
2,700	5.3%	316.875	$162
2,200	6.8%	306.6667	$176
1,350	5.8%	311.3333	$149
180	3.3%	59.7778	$34
3,800	5.9%	308.5714	$152

Total good output

166,200

Total waste units

10,230

Total waste cost

$673

Overall waste percent

5.8%

Average waste cost per job

$135

Units can be sheets, metres, labels or cartons as long as you use one unit throughout. Waste percent here is waste divided by total pieces started, which is the common press definition.

Post press waste to the production order

Optional: a short review of how to capture waste once and post it to ERP production orders.

Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.

How to use the worksheet

Add a row for each job or run segment. Enter good output, makeready waste, run waste, run minutes and the material cost per unit. The computed columns show total waste, waste percent, units per minute and waste cost. The summary block gives the overall waste rate. Export to Excel or CSV to share with the production meeting.

The formulas

Total waste is makeready plus run waste. Waste percent is total waste divided by good output plus total waste, times 100. Speed is total pieces started divided by run minutes. Waste cost is total waste times the material cost per unit. Keeping makeready and run waste separate matters because they have different fixes.

High makeready waste points to setup, plate mounting or colour matching
High run waste points to web breaks, ink drift or substrate quality
Short runs always show higher makeready percentage

Reading the results

Compare jobs of similar length. A short digital run and a long flexo run cannot be judged against one waste percentage. Sort by waste cost rather than percent when deciding which job to investigate first, since a modest percent on a long expensive run can exceed a high percent on a cheap one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a normal waste percentage in printing?

It varies widely by process, job length and substrate. Short-run flexo or offset jobs can show high single digits or more, while long runs can be a few percent. Compare against your own history for similar jobs rather than a generic figure.

Should makeready waste be separate from run waste?

Yes. They have different causes and owners. Makeready depends on setup practice and job length, while run waste reflects process stability. Combining them hides which problem to fix first.

What unit should I use for good output?

Use the unit you count and sell, such as sheets, cartons, labels or linear metres. The only rule is to use the same unit for good output and waste on every row so the percentages are valid.

Can I add more presses to the dropdown?

The press column accepts the listed values. For other presses, export to Excel and edit the column, or note the press in the job field. The calculations do not depend on the press name.

If waste data is entered twice, once on paper and once in the ERP, we can help capture it once and post it to the production order automatically.

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