Lean Manufacturing & Operations worked example

Production Plan Variance with planned production target of 100 units: a worked example

Suppose planned production target falls to 100 units. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Calculate the variance between planned and actual production output to quantify schedule deviations and identify improvement areas.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Planned production target: 100 units (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 200)
  • Actual production completed: 175 units (held at the documented default)
  • Authorized plan adjustments: 10 units (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Unexplained Variance = Planned - Actual - Authorized Adjustments.
  • Unexplained variance (units) works out to 0 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Total gap from plan works out to 185 value at these inputs.
  • Planned production target works out to 100 value at these inputs.
  • Utilization works out to 0 % at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where planned production target sits at 200 units and the headline result is 15 units, this scenario comes in 100% below the baseline at 0 units.
  • It computes the unexplained variance by subtracting actual output and authorized adjustments from the planned target, plus the total raw gap from plan. 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

  • Unexplained variance (units): 0 units (headline result)
  • Total gap from plan: 185 value
  • Planned production target: 100 value
  • Utilization: 0 %

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Production Plan Variance calculator, set planned production target to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.