Step 1: Pick one unit
Cases/hour: physical cases completed per hour. Units/hour: individual items completed per hour. Lines/hour: distinct order lines completed per hour. Picks/hour: picking actions or locations according to your system. One line can involve multiple units, so these numbers are not interchangeable.
Use the same unit consistently across shifts. If your employer has weighted units, a simple physical-case count will not recreate the weighted report.
Step 2: Figure out which hours count
If you work from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., that is eight elapsed hours. If you are comparing productive picking time and 30 minutes are excluded, there are 7.5 productive hours. If you don't know the employer's rule, don't claim that your version is the official one.
Step 3: Divide the work by the hours
For 900 cases in 6 productive hours: 900 ÷ 6 = 150 cases/hour. For 450 units in 3 hours: 450 ÷ 3 = 150 units/hour. Those numeric results are identical, but they describe different things.
Use our free cases-per-hour calculator to run your own numbers, including a target and optional break subtraction.
Step 4: Compare the same way each time
Compare like with like: the same unit, time definition, and kind of assignment. A shift with short orders, long travel, or a different zone can change your average. For a combined weekly rate, add all cases first and divide by the total counted hours—don't simply average daily rates when shift lengths differ.
How is a 100% performance standard different?
If a workplace explicitly tells you that 200 cases/hour represents 100%, then 150 cases/hour would be 75% of that fixed standard. But an engineered or employer-reported score may incorporate different assignments and time allowances. You cannot safely reverse-engineer it from raw case counts. See the standards guide.
How can I tell whether I'm improving?
Keep a simple record of the date, completed work, time counted, tracking unit, and the kind of shift. Look for repeated patterns over several shifts rather than judging yourself on one hard order. More speed is not worth unsafe stacks, skipped breaks, or injuries.