Additive Manufacturing Service Bureau Quoting worked example

Print Farm Utilization at 54% target print-farm utilization: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop target print-farm utilization to 54%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Calculate booked printer hours as a percentage of available print-farm hours and compare with a utilization target.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Booked productive printer hours: 620 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Available print-farm hours in the period: 840 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Target print-farm utilization: 54 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 75)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Print farm utilization = booked printer hours รท available print-farm hours.
  • Print farm utilization works out to 73.81 % at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gap to target works out to -19.81 points at these inputs.
  • Booked printer hours works out to 620 hr at these inputs.
  • Available print-farm hours works out to 840 hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where target print-farm utilization sits at 75% and the headline result is 73.81 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 73.81 %.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to target print-farm utilization, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. Hours booked does not equal hours profitably sold; a fleet can show high utilization while running low-margin or scrap-heavy builds, so read it next to yield and profitability rather than alone.

Results at a glance

  • Print farm utilization: 73.81 % (headline result)
  • Gap to target: -19.81 points
  • Booked printer hours: 620 hr
  • Available print-farm hours: 840 hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Print Farm Utilization calculator, set target print-farm utilization to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.