A system and method for generating and using fixed-point operations for neural networks includes converting floating-point weighting factors into fixed-point weighting factors using a scaling factor. The scaling factor is defined to minimize a cost function and the scaling factor is derived from a set of multiples of a predetermined base. The set of possible scaling function is defined to reduce the computational effort for evaluating the cost function for each of a number of possible scaling factors. The system and method may be implemented in one or more controllers that are programmed to execute the logic.