Combined capacity is not the sum of the machines
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Two departments each report that they can finish four jobs a day. Combining their equipment does not establish that the retained operation can finish eight. Their figures may depend on different staffing, product mixes and shared support.
Ask what made each figure possible before adding them together. The owner needs a credible operating assumption, with the relevant technical and safety assessments handled by competent people.
Put both capacity statements on the same basis
Identify the work counted, the period observed and whether the figure describes started or accepted jobs. Record the staff and support available during that period. A quiet day's demonstrated maximum differs from a sustained service commitment across a mixed week.
Check the definition of a job. One department may count each component separately while another counts a complete customer order. The estimate comparison helps uncover differences in the work hidden behind local numbers.
Use product families where a single average would mislead. Keep any capability that serves a particular customer visible, even if its volume is small.
A fictional shared-resource limit
Suppose two work areas can each complete four suitable jobs daily when their own arrangements are available. After consolidation, every job also needs one hour from a shared specialist. The proposed plan makes that specialist available for six hours of this work each day.
Eight jobs would require eight specialist hours under those assumptions. The six-hour allocation leaves a gap before the business even considers other constraints. The example does not establish a safe staffing level or prove that six jobs are achievable; it exposes a missing dependency in the eight-job claim.
Ask the responsible people how the plan will address it. The answer may affect timing, accepted work or the proposed arrangement. Do not assume somebody can cover the gap by working through breaks or adding unagreed hours.
Check the supporting operation
Inspection, planning, receiving and maintenance may have served each department separately. When those functions combine, ask what workload they inherit and who makes competing decisions. The shared-support review provides a task-based way to examine that work.
The combined-department bottleneck guide follows the merged order streams through their handoffs. It is useful once the basic capacity measures are comparable.
Write the owner's current assumption with its evidence and conditions. If a figure remains untested, label it as a planning scenario. Ask what result would justify a later revision before it becomes a promise to customers.
Only then assess which equipment has no continuing role. Give UK Auction Group the confirmed surplus scope and the remaining availability conditions. A machine count is easy to compare; the business decision depends on what the whole operation can reliably support.
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This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.