Process capacity.
Enter the target output and parameters for each process step. Identify the constraint and assess the staffing required to meet the shift target.
Shift parameters
Input definitions
- Shift duration
- Total duration of the analysed shift in hours. Available operating time is calculated separately for each step using its availability percentage.
- Target Β· unit
- Required units completed per shift. The unit must have the same definition at every step, for example one parcel moving through the full process.
- Step Β· resources
- A step is one operation in the process. Resources are parallel workstations performing the same activity. Additional people sharing one workstation do not automatically create another parallel resource.
- Min / unit
- Average cycle time for one unit at one workstation, in minutes. Enter the time for the selected step, not the total lead time of the process.
- Availability %
- Share of the shift during which the workstation can operate. If breaks and downtime are included here, do not deduct them again from shift duration.
Steps and staffing
Resources may represent people or parallel workstations. Use one consistent unit definition across all steps.
Result for the entered assumptions
Result definitions
- Units per shift
- Estimated end-to-end process capacity: the lowest capacity among all steps, rounded down to complete units.
- Shortfall / headroom
- The difference between target output and estimated process capacity. Shortfall is shown below target; headroom is shown once the target is met.
- Constraint
- The step with the lowest estimated capacity per shift. If several steps have the same result, each constrains the process.
- Step capacities
- Values show maximum units at each step. Bar length is relative to the highest-capacity step; crimson identifies the constraint.
- Staffing scenario
- β+1β means one additional parallel resource at the step, with cycle time and availability unchanged. The recalculated result remains limited by the lowest-capacity step.
per shift
Step capacities
What would be required to meet the target?
We can build a tool around your process.
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What does the calculator estimate?
Step capacity = shift duration Γ parallel resources Γ availability Γ· average cycle time per unit. Packing example: 8 hours Γ 60 minutes Γ 4 workstations Γ 88% Γ· 1.85 minutes per unit = 913 complete units. End-to-end process capacity is determined by the step with the lowest capacity. This is a simplified estimate for sequential steps using one common unit definition. It does not model cycle-time variability, queues, batches or rework. Data remains in this browser.