Free tool
Capacity calculator
The maximum units a machine could produce in a period — and a more realistic estimate using your actual cycle time.
Theoretical capacity is the ceiling — every minute run at the ideal cycle time, no losses. Effective capacity swaps in your actual, measured cycle time for a realistic estimate of what the same available time will actually produce.
How the calculation works
Theoretical capacity = available time ÷ ideal cycle time — the maximum units producible in the period if the machine ran at its best possible pace with zero stops. It’s a ceiling, not a forecast.
Effective capacity swaps in an actual or derated cycle time — the pace the machine really runs at, including the losses that are always present — for a realistic estimate of what the same available time will actually yield.
Capacity numbers are most useful set against takt time and demand: capacity tells you what’s possible, takt time tells you what’s required, and the gap between them is either headroom or a shortfall that needs a second shift, a faster cycle, or another machine.
This calculator is for a single machine over a single period. ThingConnect measures actual cycle time continuously from controller data, so effective capacity stays current instead of being recalculated from a stale average.