Guides

How to read the worksheet

Notes on how to read a PlantBench worksheet: what a figure measures, which field it belongs in, and what the sheet does not calculate.

• Vendor quote vs. ROI case

  A vendor quote prices equipment. An ROI case uses the plant's labor, loss, energy, and weeks. PlantBench is the worksheet, not a quote.

• Why capex proposals stall in committee

  A checklist for a capex meeting: where labor came from, what half the yield gain does, and whether the new machine costs more to run. Not a study of how often proposals stall.

• What a defensible payback looks like

  Simple payback is net installed cost divided by annual savings. NPV, discounted payback, and IRR appear after equipment cost. The stress test is on the sheet.

• Steam, abrasive, or knife peeling

  The peeler worksheet is one set of inputs. The default is a steam-leaning energy case. Change therms, labor, and yield to price abrasive or knife. No cost-per-ton table.

• Rebuild vs. replace

  Compare up to three options on the same plant rates. An avoided rebuild is a one-time amount in a year you choose. It has no default and is outside annual savings.

• State energy and labor costs

  EIA 2025 industrial electricity and gas, and BLS OEWS May 2025 production wages, for ten processing states. Same figures the worksheet fills when you pick a state.

• Yield loss by crop

  USDA Standard Reference 28 refuse percents for raw fruit and vegetables, as a share of the item as purchased. A food-composition figure, not a plant peel-loss trial.

• IQF freezer payback

  An IQF freezer payback on the worksheet stays blank until equipment cost is entered. A 5,000 lb/hr case depends on hours, product value, yield, energy, and labor.

• Optical sorter ROI

  Optical sorter ROI on the worksheet is labor hours removed, minus yield lost to false rejects. Missed defects count only if both quality fields are entered.