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TBM 377: Time Allocation ≠ Capacity Allocation


Spoiler: the concept of capacity allocation is fraught with misunderstanding, and companies waste a lot of money (and do a lot of damage) by mistaking time allocation for capacity allocation.

But what matters more in practice is effective capacity, which takes into account factors like scheduled maintenance, breaks, supply chain delays, changeovers, quality checks, and staffing fluctuations. So if you asked, ‘Where did we allocate capacity?’ the answer would look less like counting hours and more like how we balanced product mix, changeovers, downtime, equipment availability, and demand fluctuations. A stable codebase, good tooling, healthy team dynamics, and accumulated product knowledge make today’s work possible.

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