Costing calculator
Calculate cost of making (CM) per piece and per dozen from garment SMV, cost per minute and expected efficiency, or derive cost per minute from monthly manufacturing cost.
Method note: Which costs are included in CPM is a company decision. Keep the definition fixed across quotations.
CM per dozen
19.2USD
CM per piece = SMV × cost per minute / efficiency
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| CPM | Cost per available minute | currency/min |
| η | Expected line efficiency as a fraction | - |
CPM = monthly cost / (operators × minutes per day × working days)
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| C_month | Monthly manufacturing cost | currency |
CM per piece = SMV × cost per minute / efficiency. CM per dozen = CM per piece × 12. An optional margin can be added on CM.
If you do not know your cost per minute, choose "Derive from monthly cost": cost per minute = monthly cost / (operators × minutes per day × working days).
See CM cost for the method and its assumptions.
Defaults: SMV 12, cost per minute 0.08 USD, expected efficiency 60%.
With derived cost per minute, a monthly cost of 250,000 for 600 operators working 480 minutes on 26 days gives 250,000 / 7,488,000 = about 0.0334 per minute.
CM depends heavily on the efficiency you assume. Use the efficiency your lines actually achieve for similar styles. Add CM to fabric, trims and other costs with the garment costing calculator.
Cost per minute is the cost of an available minute. A line at 60% efficiency needs about 1.67 available minutes for each standard minute of work, so the SMV is divided by efficiency.
The manufacturing costs you allocate to sewing: wages, salaries, utilities, rent, depreciation and overheads. Be consistent with how you define cost per minute.
CM (cost of making) covers cutting, sewing and finishing. Learn how to build a cost per minute from factory costs, calculate CM from SMV and efficiency, and avoid the assumptions that make CM quotes lose money.
A garment cost sheet adds fabric, trims, cost of making, processes, testing, commercial costs and profit to reach a price. This guide walks through each element with a worked T-shirt example and the checks that stop losses.
FOB price is what the buyer pays for goods delivered on board at the port of shipment. What FOB includes and excludes, how to build an FOB price from fabric, trims, CM and overheads, a worked example, and how FOB compares with other shipping terms.
SMV is the standard time to complete a task at a normal pace, including allowances. Learn what it includes, how it is set, how it drives targets, efficiency, capacity and CM cost, and where it goes wrong.