Working tool / Production operations
Count the approvals. Not the generations.
Estimate the cost of getting a defined set of assets through review. Change the assumptions to see how rejection and finishing affect the result.
Illustrative scenario only. Defaults are invented planning inputs, not market rates, vendor prices or predicted acceptance. Use one currency consistently. No values are saved or sent.
What the calculation does
Candidate count = required approvals ÷ acceptance rate, rounded up. Candidate labour = candidate count × (preparation minutes + review minutes) ÷ 60. Finishing labour = required approvals × finishing minutes ÷ 60. Both use the entered blended hourly rate. Add tools and fixed costs, then the selected contingency. Divide that total by required approvals for cost per approved asset.
This is a deterministic planning sketch. An acceptance rate is an assumption, not a promise that every batch returns the required approvals. The planner budgets whole candidates but finishes only the requested target. Pilot results, usage rights, specialist review, rush fees and local adaptations may require separate estimates. Avoid counting the same labour twice in fixed costs.
Use the change, not just the total
Hold the target steady and reduce acceptance from 40% to 20%. The extra candidate reviews are the pressure point. Then compare reducing candidate count through a tighter brief with reducing finishing time. Neither change is automatically desirable if it lowers quality. Write down what would need to be true to justify the assumption, and test that in a small pilot.
- Scope the pilot
Collect useful acceptance and rework observations before scaling.
- Compare production approaches
A useful choice accounts for more than the cost of generation.