S&OP, Demand Planning & Forecasting worked example

Capacity Demand Gap at 65% planned equipment uptime: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop planned equipment uptime to 65%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate capacity demand gap for sandop, demand planning and forecasting using production-ready inputs so teams can confirm whether capacity can cover demand before committing the schedule.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Good units produced per cycle: 4 units / cycle (held at the documented default)
  • Scheduled production cycles available: 480 cycles (held at the documented default)
  • Planned equipment uptime: 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)
  • Expected first-pass yield: 97 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross capacity demand gap capacity = capacity demand gap output per cycle × available capacity demand gap cycles.
  • Good capacity demand gap capacity works out to 1,211 units at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross capacity demand gap capacity works out to 1,920 units at these inputs.
  • Capacity demand gap downtime loss works out to 672 units at these inputs.
  • Capacity demand gap yield loss works out to 37.44 units at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where planned equipment 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.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to planned equipment uptime, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It uses single average uptime and yield figures, so it will not capture ramp effects, product-mix changes, or bottleneck shifts within the period.

Results at a glance

  • Good capacity demand gap capacity: 1,211 units (headline result)
  • Gross capacity demand gap capacity: 1,920 units
  • Capacity demand gap downtime loss: 672 units
  • Capacity demand gap yield loss: 37.44 units

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Capacity Demand Gap calculator, set planned equipment uptime to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.