Multiply individual process step yields together to reveal true end-to-end performance — exposing hidden defects and the cumulative impact of variation across a multi-step process.
Enter your values on the left, then press Calculate.
Four production steps, each above 94% first-pass yield. Enter the lab and see the true combined throughput — the number will surprise you.
Use the calculator above to multiply your step-level yields and reveal true end-to-end performance. RTY is the probability that a unit passes through every step of a process without rework or scrap — and it exposes the hidden defects that single-step yield always misses.
Rolled Throughput Yield (RTY) is the probability that a unit passes through every step of a multi-step process correctly the first time, with no rework, scrap or hidden factory effort. It is the product of every step’s first-pass yield and is almost always significantly lower than any single step’s yield.
RTY = Y₁ × Y₂ × Y₃ × ... × Yₙ, where each Yᵢ is the first-pass yield of one step (good units out ÷ units in, ignoring any rework). RTY is the mathematically honest end-to-end figure — and the multiplication is the reason a process with five "95% good" steps actually delivers around 77%.
A five-step assembly process reports first-pass yields of 98%, 95%, 99%, 96% and 97%. Each step looks healthy. RTY = 0.98 × 0.95 × 0.99 × 0.96 × 0.97 = 0.858, or 85.8%. Fifteen units in every 100 require rework somewhere — a hidden factory the per-step numbers hid.
If the worst step (95%) is improved to 99%, RTY rises to 0.895. A single 4-point gain at the constraint step delivers more end-to-end improvement than a 2-point lift across all five steps combined — which is why RTY is so useful for prioritising improvement effort.
RTY exposes the cumulative cost of variation across a process. Two factories reporting the same final yield can have wildly different RTYs — and the one with the lower RTY is doing more rework, employing more inspectors and absorbing more cost.
Use RTY on any multi-step process where rework is being absorbed within steps rather than being scrapped. It is essential for DMAIC, for Lean Six Sigma project scoping, and for benchmarking sites that share the same product.
RTY is one of the headline metrics of Six Sigma alongside DPMO and Sigma Level. An RTY of 99.9997% across a 100-step process is what "Six Sigma quality" means in practice — almost no rework anywhere.
Pareto the per-step yields from worst to best. The lowest two-to-three steps are where improvement effort returns the biggest RTY lift. Re-measure RTY after each project so the cumulative gain is visible.
Combine RTY with DPMO, Pareto and control charts to convert the headline number into specific improvement actions.
The probability that a unit passes every step of a process first-time, with no rework. It is the product of every step’s first-pass yield.
Final yield only counts what makes it out the door, hiding any rework done inside the process. RTY counts only units that needed no rework anywhere, which is almost always a lower (and more honest) figure.
It depends on step count and industry. A 5-step assembly process might aim for 90%; a 50-step semiconductor process might target 95% per step (RTY around 8%). The right benchmark is your own process’s prior performance.
Identify the worst-performing steps with a Pareto, fix them first, then move to the next. A small improvement at the worst step usually beats a larger improvement spread across all steps.
Yes. Software teams use it for handoffs between dev, QA and release. Service teams use it for per-stage right-first-time rates. The maths works for any sequential process.
Want to know how to use RTY to identify where yield is being lost in your process? The Green Belt covers this in full.
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