Tag
capacity
Production-planning notes filed under capacity.
- 01
The Bullwhip Effect on Your CPG Line: Why a 5% Shelf Wobble Becomes a Whipsawing Schedule
Your inbound order signal swings harder than consumers actually buy. That jumpiness is a structural amplification called the bullwhip effect. Here's how to name it, measure it, and dampen it from the plant floor.
Read post - 02
Little's Law for CPG Schedulers: Predict Line Lead Time from WIP and Throughput
The line is running at rate, yet orders keep shipping late. Little's Law explains why: lead time is WIP divided by throughput. Learn to predict flow time, cap queues, and quote promise dates you can keep.
Read post - 03
The 100% Utilization Trap: Why a Fully Booked CPG Line Is Your Slowest Line
Loading a line to 98% of available hours looks efficient, but queue time explodes as you approach 100% utilization. Here's the math behind the trap and where to set your utilization ceiling.
Read post - 04
Dynamic Lot-Sizing for Lumpy CPG Demand: When One Fixed Batch Size Stops Working
EOQ and EPQ assume steady demand. Real CPG demand is lumpy — promo spikes, seasonal resets, uneven retailer orders. Here's how lot-for-lot, POQ, Silver-Meal, and Wagner-Whitin size runs when net requirements change every week.
Read post - 05
Economic Production Quantity (EPQ): Sizing Batches When Your Line Makes and Ships at Once
Run long to dilute a painful changeover, or run short to avoid drowning in inventory? EPQ is the math for the sweet spot — built for a line that fills stock gradually while demand keeps pulling it down.
Read post - 06
Takt Time for CPG Schedulers: Turn Demand Into a Daily Run Plan
Takt time is the customer's drumbeat — the pace demand sets, not the pace your line can hit. Here's how to calculate it, reconcile it with run-rate, and turn it into a daily run plan that actually holds fill.
Read post - 07
Plan to Real Capacity, Not Nameplate: Turning OEE Into a Schedulable Run-Rate
Schedulers build the master plan against a line's nameplate rate, then watch it slip. OEE is the translation layer between theoretical speed and the number you can actually schedule against. Here is the arithmetic and the levers.
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