Capacity Planning for a Small Cabinet Shop

Capacity planning compares the work committed with the resources available to finish it. Start with stations and skills that constrain delivery. A total headcount cannot establish whether the shop has enough finishing, programming, assembly, or installation capacity.

Build the comparison

• Estimate work by operation using comparable historical jobs where possible.
• Account for planned absence, training, setup, and maintenance.
• Separate qualified skills from nominal labor availability.
• Review material and approval readiness before counting work as releasable.

Worked example

A hypothetical shop has four assemblers available for 30 productive hours each, giving 120 planned labor hours. If released assembly work requires 145 hours, the gap is 25 hours. The plan needs an explicit response, not an assumption that every paid hour is available for assembly.

Recheck commitments

Use actual completions to improve estimates. Keep forecast uncertainty visible, especially for unfamiliar finishes or assemblies.

Related reading

• Bottleneck Analysis in a Millwork Production Line
• Job Travelers for Commercial Millwork

Definitions and further reference

• Lean Enterprise Institute: standardized work

How Millbase can help your shop

Make production conversations specific

A woodworking schedule is easier to review when the team can see the work already recorded. Millbase Floor Pulse shows active workers, projects, workstations, and elapsed time. Pair it with project records to discuss a delayed cabinet order with the people and work behind it, and compare logged labour with the estimate.

Ask the Millbase AI agent a question grounded in your workspace records. For example: “Who is working on this project, at which workstations, and how many hours have been recorded?” You can select a project or worker, ask follow-up questions, and request supported reports and CSV exports.

Use the breakdown to prepare the next production conversation. Current activity and recorded hours are evidence for planning; they do not by themselves prove that an assembly has passed inspection or is ready to ship.