5.4.1

Capacity

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Capacity

Capacity refers to the maximum level of production possible using the resources available within the business.

Importance of capacity

Importance of capacity

  • A business must understand its capacity to make sure that it does not commit to more orders than it can fulfil within a certain time period.
The importance of productivity

The importance of productivity

  • Increasing the number of, or productivity levels of staff and investing in technology can help a business to increase its total capacity.
Capacity utilisation

Capacity utilisation

  • The proportion of total capacity being used by a business is known as its capacity utilisation.
  • Many businesses aim to increase their capacity utilisation as this will mean that fixed costs can be spread out over a greater number of units.
Disadvantage of 100% capacity utilisation

Disadvantage of 100% capacity utilisation

  • Having capacity utilisation of 100% means the business cannot respond to additional or special orders made at short notice as they do not have any further capacity to produce these products.
Outsourcing

Outsourcing

  • If a business needs to increase its capacity at short notice to take advantage of an increase in demand, outsourcing can be used, although this has both advantages and disadvantages:
    • Outsourcing allows a business to increase its total capacity which may allow the business to meet increasing demand.
    • Outsourcing can lead to quality issues if outsourcers do not take quality as seriously as the business.
Example of capacity utilisation

Example of capacity utilisation

  • If a coffee shop’s total capacity is 3,000 hot drinks per day, it will be unable to produce more than 3,000 hot drinks per day unless it increases its capacity through staff training or further recruitment.
    • Selling 1,500 hot drinks per day would give the business a capacity utilisation of 50% if total capacity is 3,000 hot drinks
Jump to other topics
1

Business Organisation & Environment

1.1

Introduction to Business Management

1.1.1Why Businesses Exist & Sectors
1.2

Types of Organisation

1.2.1Sole Traders1.2.2Limited Liability1.2.3Non-Profit1.2.4Franchising1.2.5End of Topic Test - Franchising
1.3

Organisational Objectives

1.3.1External Environments1.3.2Business Mission & Corporate Objective1.3.3Mission, Corporate Objectives & Strategy1.3.4SWOT Analysis1.3.5End of Topic Test - SWOT Analysis
1.4

Stakeholders

1.4.1Stakeholders
1.5

External Environment

1.5.1Social & Technological Environment1.5.2Lifestyle & Technological Environment1.5.3Corporate Social Responsibility1.5.4Economic Environment1.5.5Political & Legal Change
1.6

Growth & Evolution

1.6.1Growth & Retrenchment1.6.2Challenges of Growth1.6.3Growth Models1.6.4End of Topic Test - Diseconomies of Scale1.6.5Internationalisation1.6.6Sourcing Resources & Entering Markets1.6.7End of Topic Test - Internationalisation1.6.8Managing Internationalisation1.6.9Impact of Internationalisation
1.7

HL Only: Organisational Planning Tools

1.7.1Organisational Planning Tools
2

Human Resource Management

2.1

Functions & Evolution of Human Resource Management

2.1.1Setting Human Resource Objectives2.1.2Human Resource Management2.1.3Labour Turnover & Retention2.1.4Labour Productivity
2.2

Organisational Structure

2.2.1Organisational Structures
2.3

Leadership & Management

2.3.1Managers2.3.2Management Theories2.3.3End of Topic Test - Management
2.4

Motivation

2.4.1Motivating & Engaging Employees2.4.2Taylor's Theory2.4.3Maslow's Theory2.4.4Herzberg's Theory2.4.5Different Incentives2.4.6Evaluating Incentives
2.5

Organisational (Corporate) Culture

2.5.1Managing Organisational Culture2.5.2Organisational Structures
2.6

HL Only: Industrial/Employee Relations

2.6.1Improving Employer-Employee Relations2.6.2Case Study - The Winter of Discontent
3

Finance & Accounts

3.1

Sources of Finance

3.1.1Internal Sources of Finance3.1.2External Sources of Finance3.1.3Factors for Financing3.1.4End of Topic Test - Debt
3.2

Costs & Revenues

3.2.1Costs & Revenues
3.3

Break-Even Analysis

3.3.1Profit3.3.2Break-Even Analysis
3.4

Profitability & Liquidity Ratio Analysis

3.4.1Profitability Analysis
3.5

Cash Flow

3.5.1Cash Flow3.5.2Solutions to Cash Flow Problems3.5.3Improving Cash Flow & Profits
3.6

HL Only: Investment Appraisal

3.6.1Investment Appraisal
3.7

HL Only: Budgets

3.7.1Cash-Flow & Budgets
4

Marketing

4.1

The Role of Marketing

4.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives4.1.2Market Calculations
4.2

Marketing Planning

4.2.1Marketing Mix4.2.2Segmentation4.2.3Niche & Mass Markets
4.3

Market Research

4.3.1Market Research4.3.2Market Mapping4.3.3Methods of Market Research
4.4

The 4 Ps

4.4.1Product Decisions4.4.2Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming4.4.3Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration4.4.4End of Topic Test - Pricing & Competition4.4.5Promotional Decisions4.4.6Promotional Decisions 24.4.7Promotional Decisions 34.4.8Digital Marketing4.4.9Evaluating Digital Marketing4.4.10Case Study - The Marketing Mix & Promotion4.4.11Place & Distribution
4.5

HL Only: The Extended Marketing Mix

4.5.1The Extended Marketing Mix
4.6

HL Only: International Marketing

4.6.1International Marketing
4.7

E-Commerce

4.7.1E-Commerce
5

Operations Management

5.1

The Role of Operations Management

5.1.1Setting Operational Objectives
5.2

Production Methods

5.2.1Production Processes Overview5.2.2Production Processes5.2.3Production Efficiency5.2.4Technology & Production
5.3

HL Only: Lean Prodution & Quality Management

5.3.1Importance of Quality5.3.2Measuring & Identifying Quality5.3.3Total Quality Management5.3.4Evaluating Total Quality Management5.3.5Case Study - Toyota Production System
5.4

HL Only: Production Planning

5.4.1Capacity5.4.2Productivity & Efficiency5.4.3Technology & Efficiency5.4.4Improving the Supply Chain5.4.5Inventory5.4.6Outsourcing
5.5

HL Only: Research & Development

5.5.1Organisational Planning Tools

Practice questions on Capacity

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    4 ways to increase production capacity:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    What can be spread out over a higher number of units if capacity utilisation increases?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Is 100% capacity utilisation always desirable?Multiple choice
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Case Study - Toyota Production System

Productivity & Efficiency