Katana helps you calculate the cost of each production operation based on resource hourly rates and operation time. This guide walks you through how Katana determines operation costs, how to configure them, and how different operation types affect those calculations.
How operation costs are calculated
The total production operations cost for a product is the sum of all operation steps defined in the Production operations tab.
Each operation step uses the following formula: Cost = Cost per Hour × Time
What is “Cost per hour”?
Cost per Hour is the average hourly cost of performing an operation and may include:
Labor (e.g. salary)
Maintenance costs
Electricity or overhead use for workstations
Note: Material costs are not included here.
When you assign a resource to an operation, the default hourly cost of that resource will auto-fill.
You can:
Set and edit this default value under Settings > Resources
Change the value for each operation step if needed
What is “Time”?
Time is the duration it takes to complete the operation for one unit of the product. You can:
Define this on the product’s Production operations tab
Adjust the actual time later on the manufacturing order if needed
Important notes
You cannot manually enter the total operation cost. It is always calculated.
To add a fixed cost without multiple steps, create a single operation step, set:
Cost per Hour = your total estimated costTime = 1 hour
Operation cost behavior by type
If you're using the Advanced Manufacturing add-on, Katana supports four operation types, each with unique cost/time calculations:
Time calculation by operation type
Operation type | How time is calculated |
Process | Time per unit × product quantity |
Setup | Fixed time per setup (not dependent on quantity) |
Per unit | Time per unit × product quantity |
Fixed cost | Fixed time (quantity doesn’t matter) |
Operation types are only available with the Advanced Manufacturing add-on.
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