Output Quota

a quantity of production units (or operations) that must be produced (or completed) during a time unit (hour, shift, or month), under defined organizational and technological conditions, by a single worker or group of workers possessing the appropriate skills. Depending on the type of work, an output quota can be expressed in pieces or in units of length, area, volume, or weight.

Output quotas are calculated using the formula Q = T‧N/t, where Q is the output quota, T is the duration (in hours or minutes) of the time period for which the output quota is being established, N is the number of workers taking part in the operation, and t is the time rate for a given operation or time per article, expressed in man-hours or man-minutes.

In the USSR output quotas are generally used in mass production and large-series production, where the number of operators and the type of operation remain constant for the duration of a whole work shift. The use of output quotas is especially widespread in the coal industry, in the metallurgical, chemical, and food-processing industries, and in mass production sections in machine-building enterprises. Output quotas must be technically well grounded. In establishing output quotas, the latest achievements of process and industrial engineering are used, and advanced production experience is called upon. This assures a progressive level of output quotas. The establishment of technically based output quotas orients socialist enterprises and their workers toward achieving a level of labor productivity that is higher than the existing average level.