How is this different from shop capacity?

This covers the engineering and work preparation done after an order is won. Machine hours come later, once the job is released with a routing, so clear this load first.

Why divide the workload by the utilization target?

A team cannot spend every hour on orders; some goes to meetings, quoting support and recovery. Required capacity is therefore workload ÷ target, which is larger than the workload itself.

What counts as won-order engineering hours?

Drawing review, bill of materials cleanup, routing, fixture planning and handoff meetings for each won order. Use estimated hours for new work and job history for repeat work.

Required capacity fits. What does slack tell me?

It is the hours left for preparing more won work without pushing the team past its target. Hold a little back for change orders and rework rather than selling all of it.

Contract Manufacturing, Job Shop Quoting & Make-to-Order calculator

Sales to Production Handoff Load Calculator

Turn won-order engineering and routing hours into the handoff capacity they need. Compare that load with the hours production preparation has before you commit to release dates.

What this calculator does

Handoff hours a won order load requires at your target utilization, checked against the capacity your team has.

Formula used

Required handoff capacity = won-order engineering hours ÷ target utilization
Capacity gap = required handoff capacity − available handoff capacity
Slack hours = MAX(0, available handoff capacity − required handoff capacity)

Inputs explained

Engineering Hours From Won Orders: Engineering and routing hours released by orders won this period.
Available Handoff Capacity: Work-prep hours the handoff team can give to new orders.
Target Handoff Utilization: Planned share of handoff hours spent on won-order work.

How to use the result

Best suited to deciding whether to commit to a release date, sizing the handoff team for next quarter.
The team is treated as one pool; spare planner hours will not relieve a CAD bottleneck. Queue and waiting time between handoff steps are not modeled, only total hours.

Current U.S. benchmarks

As of Aug 2026, U.S. manufacturing runs at 75.7% of capacity (Federal Reserve via FRED), down 0.1 points from a year earlier. Enter your own plant's utilization; the national figure is a reference point for how loaded the industry is.
The U.S. prime lending rate is 7.00% (Federal Reserve via FRED, 2026-10-02). Payback and financing math should start from today's rate, not a remembered one.

Common questions

How is this different from shop capacity? This covers the engineering and work preparation done after an order is won. Machine hours come later, once the job is released with a routing, so clear this load first.
Why divide the workload by the utilization target? A team cannot spend every hour on orders; some goes to meetings, quoting support and recovery. Required capacity is therefore workload ÷ target, which is larger than the workload itself.
What counts as won-order engineering hours? Drawing review, bill of materials cleanup, routing, fixture planning and handoff meetings for each won order. Use estimated hours for new work and job history for repeat work.
Required capacity fits. What does slack tell me? It is the hours left for preparing more won work without pushing the team past its target. Hold a little back for change orders and rework rather than selling all of it.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.