Dental, Orthodontic & Prosthetics Manufacturing worked example

Lab Capacity Forecast at 65% expected lab uptime: a worked example

Suppose expected lab uptime falls to 65%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Forecast good-case output for a dental, orthodontic, or prosthetics lab by combining cases per cycle, available production cycles, uptime, and first-pass yield.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Cases completed per production cycle: 4 cases / cycle (held at the documented default)
  • Available lab production cycles: 480 cycles (held at the documented default)
  • Expected lab uptime: 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)
  • First-pass release yield: 97 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross lab output capacity = cases completed per production cycle × available lab production cycles.
  • Forecast releasable lab output works out to 1,211 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross lab output capacity works out to 1,920 units at these inputs.
  • Lab uptime capacity loss works out to 672 units at these inputs.
  • Rework and remake yield loss works out to 37.44 units at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where expected lab uptime sits at 90% and the headline result is 1,676 units, this scenario comes in 27.78% below the baseline at 1,211 units.
  • It multiplies cases per cycle by available cycles for gross capacity, then discounts by expected uptime and first-pass release yield to give forecast releasable output. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Forecast releasable lab output: 1,211 units (headline result)
  • Gross lab output capacity: 1,920 units
  • Lab uptime capacity loss: 672 units
  • Rework and remake yield loss: 37.44 units

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Lab Capacity Forecast calculator, set expected lab uptime to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.