Capacity utilisation
Capacity utilisation
Definition
The utilisation rate defines the utilisation of resources in relation to a certain period of time or project section. The utilisation, or the degree of utilisation, is a percentage value that puts the actual utilisation in relation to the maximum possible utilisation.
The object of utilisation is usually operating resources, such as machines or tools, but also human labour, e.g. in the form of person-days. The key figure is therefore an important indicator in resource management.
Targets of utilisation
The determination of utilisation rates for project-relevant resources is important for project scheduling. Since a large number of resources typically have to be taken into account in projects, suitable capacity planning software is of decisive advantage. The utilisation can be displayed, for example, in the form of a bar chart or histogram. Depending on the period under consideration, the width of the corresponding bars varies.
The target of project planning is to plan the capacity of available resources from the beginning in such a way that overloads do not occur. To achieve this goal, work packages can be flexibly distributed among different resources or shifted within buffer times. If both measures cannot ensure that the existing capacities are sufficient, either the end of the project must be postponed or additional resources must be made available.
In general, a utilisation rate of 100 per cent is aimed for. This is because a high level of resource utilisation leads to lower productivity costs and thus, as a rule, to higher company profits. However, deviations are often sensible or even necessary. For example, additional cooling or changeover times often have to be taken into account for machines. For members of the project team, a workload of 80 per cent is occasionally considered desirable. In some cases, temporary overloads (greater than 100 per cent) are also considered acceptable if the utilisation rate is below this on average over a certain period of time.