Additive Manufacturing worked example
Additive Machine Utilization at 86% target machine utilization: a worked example
Push target machine utilization up to 86% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. a service bureau owner or production manager needs a quick utilization check for printer capacity planning
The inputs for this scenario
- Booked print hours: 128 hr (unchanged)
- Available printer hours: 168 hr (unchanged)
- Target machine utilization: 86 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 75)
Working through the calculation
- Applying the documented formula (Machine utilization = booked print hours รท available printer hours) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
- At this operating point the engine returns 76.19 % for machine utilization, the number this scenario is built around.
- At this operating point the engine returns 9.81 points for gap to target.
- At this operating point the engine returns 128 hr for booked print hours.
- At this operating point the engine returns 168 hr for available printer hours.
How this compares with the baseline
- Against the tool's baseline example, where target machine utilization sits at 75% and the headline result is 76.19 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 76.19 %.
- It computes the percentage of available printer hours that are booked with builds and the point gap to your utilization target. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.
Results at a glance
- Machine utilization: 76.19 % (headline result)
- Gap to target: 9.81 points
- Booked print hours: 128 hr
- Available printer hours: 168 hr
Run it with your numbers
- Every input above is editable in the live Additive Machine Utilization calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.