A simulated trial across 36 manufacturers offers a restrained account of the shorter working week. Scheduled hours fell by 10%, while output per paid hour rose by 7%, leaving total production below its previous level. Participating factories in this invented dataset reorganized maintenance windows and reduced overlapping meetings, but those changes did not fully compensate for the reduction in time worked.

The financial result depended on the order book. Plants with spare capacity could absorb lower output more easily than those already operating near their limits. Overtime spending rose by 4% across the sample, offsetting part of the administrative savings. The lesson is not that shorter schedules necessarily fail, but that productivity gains, production volumes and labor costs must be reported separately.