Overall yield and yield rates are a big part of the calculations that distillers need to make throughout each part of their process. Many make yield calculations a core part of their R&D programmes to ensure only viable concepts are taken into full scale production and that the necessary processes are being used at trial phase (for example concentrating a gin recipe, or not allowing a ferment to take place over certain timeframes).
Yield requirements particularly affect the fermentation stage where there’s always a trade-off between flavour, time elapsed and alcohol generated, with the relationship between the three impacting production costs.
Likewise, the same is true for the cuts a distiller needs to make. Too small a yield and the economic impact can be severe, while being too greedy can come with the need to accept undesirable compounds that should have been diverted in the tails and discarded.