Should starved time count against packing line uptime?

No. When the packers wait for product, production is the constraint, and utilization already shows that idle time as spare capacity. Count only stops the packers cause, such as jams, case or film changes and faults.

What happens to units from a rejected pack?

This page assumes they are repacked, so yield cuts good capacity. If you scrap rejected packs instead, run the capacity check at 100% yield: each unit is packed once and the rejects are lost product.

How long can an accumulation table cover a packing shortfall?

Divide the table's capacity in units by the shortfall in units per hour, which is the negative spare capacity times units per pack. A 600-unit table facing a 50 packs/hr shortfall on 12-unit cases lasts one hour.

Should I use the case packer's rated speed?

No, use packs counted per running hour on your product. Nameplate speed is a ceiling; your case size, product and pack pattern set the rate you actually run.

Conveyors calculator

Packing Line Capacity Calculator

Compare good packing capacity with the packs production sends each hour and find how many lanes you need. You need production rate, units per pack, lanes, pack rate, uptime and pack-out yield.

What this calculator does

Good packs per hour your packing lanes can make, compared with what production sends, and the lanes needed to keep pace.

Formula used

Pack demand = production rate ÷ units per pack
Good packing capacity = lanes × packs per lane-hour × uptime × pack-out yield
Utilization = pack demand ÷ good capacity; spare = good capacity − pack demand
Lanes needed = FLOOR(pack demand ÷ (packs per lane-hour × uptime × yield)) + 1, the fewest keeping utilization below 100%
Lost to downtime = lanes × packs per lane-hour × (1 − uptime); lost to rejects = lanes × packs per lane-hour × uptime × (1 − yield)

Inputs explained

Production Rate to Packing: Good units per hour arriving at packing, from production counters.
Units per Pack: Units in one case, tray or bundle, from the pack specification.
Active Packing Lanes: Case packers, cartoners or manual pack stations running in parallel.
Pack Cycles per Lane-Hour: Packs one lane makes per running hour, from its counter.
Packing Line Uptime: Scheduled time minus packer stops, ÷ scheduled time, from downtime logs.
Good Pack-Out Yield: Good packs ÷ packs made, from checkweigher or pack inspection counts.

How to use the result

Best suited to adding a case packer for a faster line, checking pack-out before a production rate increase.
Changeovers count as downtime; with frequent format changes, run each format separately. Does not check palletizing, stretch wrap or dock capacity after the packers.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The U.S. has 21,668 machinery manufacturing establishments employing about 1,086,146 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

Should starved time count against packing line uptime? No. When the packers wait for product, production is the constraint, and utilization already shows that idle time as spare capacity. Count only stops the packers cause, such as jams, case or film changes and faults.
What happens to units from a rejected pack? This page assumes they are repacked, so yield cuts good capacity. If you scrap rejected packs instead, run the capacity check at 100% yield: each unit is packed once and the rejects are lost product.
How long can an accumulation table cover a packing shortfall? Divide the table's capacity in units by the shortfall in units per hour, which is the negative spare capacity times units per pack. A 600-unit table facing a 50 packs/hr shortfall on 12-unit cases lasts one hour.
Should I use the case packer's rated speed? No, use packs counted per running hour on your product. Nameplate speed is a ceiling; your case size, product and pack pattern set the rate you actually run.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.