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Inspection Effort and Cost Calculator for SAP QM Sampling Plans

Sampling plans are a trade between risk and effort. Before you tighten an inspection type in SAP QM or buy another gauge, it helps to know what the current plan costs per year. This calculator does that in a minute.

Your numbers

Inspection lots per year

lots

Sample size per lot

32 units

Inspection time per unit

min

Setup and recording time per lot

min

Retrieval, gauge setup, results recording and usage decision.

Loaded labour rate

$/hour

Share of samples destroyed

Cost of a destroyed unit

Your results

Inspection hours per year

2,120

Total annual inspection cost

$105,440

Units inspected per year

38,400

Inspector FTEs (1,800 hours each)

1.1778

Labour cost per year

$59,360

Destructive test cost per year

$46,080

Cost per lot

$88

Planning estimate. Replace defaults with your own time studies and loaded rates.

Save results:

Annual inspection cost vs sample size

Sweeps Sample size per lot from 1 to 200, holding your other inputs fixed.

Inspection workload report from SAP

Optional: discuss a read-only view of inspection lots, hours and rejection by plant.

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

How to use it

Enter the annual lot count from your inspection lot statistics, the sample size per lot, the minutes needed per unit and the fixed minutes per lot for setup and recording. Add a destructive share if samples are consumed. The result gives hours, FTEs and cost, and the sweep chart shows how cost grows with sample size. If your plan has several characteristics, use the longest total time per unit.

Formulas

Hours = lots x (setup minutes + sample x minutes per unit) / 60. Labour cost = hours x loaded rate. Destructive cost = lots x sample x destroyed share x unit cost. FTE = hours / 1,800, a typical productive year after leave and training. Total is labour plus destructive cost. Costs of failure, escapes and returns are not included.

Using it for decisions

Compare the current plan with a reduced one after a period of good history, for example moving a vendor from normal to reduced inspection through dynamic modification. The saving is the difference in total cost, but weigh it against the OC curve: a smaller sample raises the chance of accepting a poor lot. Fixed per-lot time often dominates for small samples, which is why batching deliveries can save more than cutting the sample.

Common mistakes

Leaving out setup and recording time, ignoring that destructive samples also cost material and scrap handling, and assuming every lot gets a full sample when some are skip-lot or reduced. Also remember that inspection hours are not all value-add; sometimes better supplier certification removes the need.

Frequently Asked Questions

What loaded labour rate should I use?

Use wage plus benefits and overhead for the inspector role from your controller. The loaded rate is usually 1.3 to 1.8 times the base wage.

Does this include the cost of defects?

No. It covers only the cost of inspecting. The cost of quality escaping, rework and returns should be assessed separately.

How do I get lots per year from SAP?

Count inspection lots by plant and inspection type from the lot statistics in the QM information system or from table QALS filtered by creation date.

Why does cost rise linearly with sample size?

Because time and destructive cost both scale with units inspected, while setup stays fixed. The line starts at the fixed cost.

If you want these workload figures to come straight from your SAP lot history, we can build a read-only view on your system.

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