How Workshop Loss (Fire) Is Calculated

Workshop “fire” tracks the variance between planned metal usage on a work order and actual consumption. In manual shops the master writes a notebook while finance keeps a spreadsheet—split sources hide errors. Digital systems attach target and actual weights to each job; scrap returns are logged separately.

Example: a 22K piece plans 18.5 g outtake; production uses 18.9 g, a +0.4 g variance. If 1.2 g scrap returns to the pot, netting must happen on order lines—not on a single cell. Software rolls those lines into period totals automatically.

You can slice loss rates by day, bench or product family to see where friction lives. The managerial goal is to turn fire from a hidden tax into a visible KPI.

With triple-book views the same movement can be read as metal weight, cash impact and marked-to-market value—so you report both grams and that day’s FX equivalent.

Finally, loss trails answer audit questions early: where the variance posted and how scrap consolidated.