Act on the result
Use the peak capacity gap to schedule labour, reduce the pick workload or cap accepted peak orders.
Educational only: Business decision support, not accounting, tax or legal advice.
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Update policy: Reviewed when formulas or official dependencies change.
Scope: Market-neutral small-business planning using your own assumptions.
What this planner helps you decide
Best for
Warehouse operators matching order demand with pick-and-pack labour capacity.
Outputs
Available capacity, capacity gap, labour utilisation and required labour hours.
Start here
Use productive labour time and measured minutes per order for one period.
Use a different tool when: Do not use this to compare self-fulfilment and third-party cost contracts at a chosen order volume; use Fulfilment Cost Comparison Planner for that decision. Use this tool to plan pick-and-pack capacity for peak order demand.
Commerce & operations
Pick & Pack Capacity: available capacity
Available capacity, capacity gap, labour utilisation and required labour hours.
Pick & Pack Capacity
Find labour capacity required for peak order volume.
Your numbers stay in this browser
Whole workers available.
Paid hours in the period.
Share available for picking.
Measured pick rate.
Average picks required per order.
Orders required in the period.
Decision result
Each output is bound to its registered ecommerce engine formula.
- Productive Hours
- 600
- Pick Capacity
- 30,000
- Order Capacity
- 10,000
- Peak capacity gap
- 2,000
- Utilisation Rate
- 120%
Scenario comparison
Each row names the assumption axis changed from the baseline.
ScenarioResultDifference
Current scenario2,000.00Baseline
Lower Peak demand orders1,400.00-600.00
Higher Peak demand orders2,600.00600.00
Save these results, change an input, then compare the updated figures with this baseline.
The baseline is temporary in this tab and is not added to shared scenario links or generated reports.
Calculation details
View calculation detailsView the formulas and inputs used for these results.
Productive Hours
Productive Hours
workers × paid hours × productive rate600 unitsResult600
Reports units for the entered planning period using the declared ex-tax cost and revenue basis. The engine retains full precision; presentation rounding does not feed calculation.
Pick & Pack Capacity Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Productive HoursWorkers
- 5
- Productive HoursPaid Hours Per Worker
- 160
- Productive HoursProductive Time Rate
- 0.75
- Productive HoursPicks Per Productive Hour
- 50
- Productive HoursPicks Per Order
- 3
- Productive HoursDemand Orders
- 12,000
Pick Capacity
Pick Capacity
productive hours × picks per hour30,000 unitsResult30,000
Reports units for the entered planning period using the declared ex-tax cost and revenue basis. The engine retains full precision; presentation rounding does not feed calculation.
Pick & Pack Capacity Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Pick CapacityWorkers
- 5
- Pick CapacityPaid Hours Per Worker
- 160
- Pick CapacityProductive Time Rate
- 0.75
- Pick CapacityPicks Per Productive Hour
- 50
- Pick CapacityPicks Per Order
- 3
- Pick CapacityDemand Orders
- 12,000
Order Capacity
Order Capacity
floor(pick capacity / picks per order)10,000 unitsResult10,000
Reports units for the entered planning period using the declared ex-tax cost and revenue basis. The engine retains full precision; presentation rounding does not feed calculation.
Pick & Pack Capacity Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Order CapacityWorkers
- 5
- Order CapacityPaid Hours Per Worker
- 160
- Order CapacityProductive Time Rate
- 0.75
- Order CapacityPicks Per Productive Hour
- 50
- Order CapacityPicks Per Order
- 3
- Order CapacityDemand Orders
- 12,000
Peak capacity gap
Capacity Gap Orders
max(0, demand orders − order capacity)2,000 unitsResult2,000
Reports units for the entered planning period using the declared ex-tax cost and revenue basis. The engine retains full precision; presentation rounding does not feed calculation.
Pick & Pack Capacity Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Capacity Gap OrdersWorkers
- 5
- Capacity Gap OrdersPaid Hours Per Worker
- 160
- Capacity Gap OrdersProductive Time Rate
- 0.75
- Capacity Gap OrdersPicks Per Productive Hour
- 50
- Capacity Gap OrdersPicks Per Order
- 3
- Capacity Gap OrdersDemand Orders
- 12,000
Utilisation Rate
Utilisation Rate
demand orders / order capacity1.2 percentResult120%
Reports percent for the entered planning period using the declared ex-tax cost and revenue basis. The engine retains full precision; presentation rounding does not feed calculation.
Pick & Pack Capacity Planner formulas →Inputs used by these formula steps
- Utilisation RateWorkers
- 5
- Utilisation RatePaid Hours Per Worker
- 160
- Utilisation RateProductive Time Rate
- 0.75
- Utilisation RatePicks Per Productive Hour
- 50
- Utilisation RatePicks Per Order
- 3
- Utilisation RateDemand Orders
- 12,000
Inputs used
- Workers
- 5
- Paid hours per worker
- 160
- Productive time rate
- 75%
- Picks per productive hour
- 50
- Picks per order
- 3
- Peak demand orders
- 12,000
Open this calculator with preset values
This calculator supports documented, shareable scenario URLs. Compatible assistants and applications can construct links using the parameters below.
Scenario links contain only allowlisted numeric and closed-choice inputs shown in the URL; Margin101 excludes free text and identifying fields. Anyone you share the URL with can read those numbers, so do not include private or identifying data.
| Parameter | Meaning | Unit | Allowed values | Presence | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| demandOrders | Orders required in the period. | whole events/planning period | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 12000 |
| paidHoursPerWorker | Paid hours in the period. | hours/planning period | 0 to 10000 | Required | 160 |
| picksPerOrder | Average picks required per order. | picks/order | 0.01 to 100000 | Required | 3 |
| picksPerProductiveHour | Measured pick rate. | picks/productive labour hour | 0.01 to 100000 | Required | 50 |
| productiveTimeRate | Share available for picking. | proportion of paid warehouse hours available for picking and packing | 0 to 1 | Required | 0.75 |
| workers | Whole workers available. | whole warehouse workers | 0 to 100000000 | Required | 5 |
Pick & Pack Capacity: available capacity
The peak capacity gap compares order demand with productive labour time, measured pick speed and picks required per order.
Formula summary
- Primary formula
- order capacity = floor(workers × paid hours × productive rate × picks per hour / picks per order)
Data used here
- The estimate uses your inputs and the general business formula documented in the methodology.
Decision checks
Stress-test the decision
Retest picks per productive hour and average picks per order using the same measured warehouse period.
When this estimate can be misleading
- All provider fees, exchange rates, returns, demand and operating rates are user-entered scenarios.
- Use one consistent ex-tax currency and planning period across compared inputs.
- This is educational business decision support, not accounting, tax, legal or financial advice.
- The peak capacity gap compares order demand with productive labour time, measured pick speed and picks required per order.
Educational estimate, not advice. See all assumptions & limitations →
Related reading
Guides to interpret the decision and its assumptions.
- Self-Fulfilment vs 3PL: Compare Cost, Capacity and Service
Compare user-entered fixed, per-order and loaded-labour costs while keeping capacity and service-level trade-offs explicit.
Read guide
Frequently asked questions
How do I plan pick-and-pack capacity for peak order demand?
Use the peak capacity gap to schedule labour, reduce the pick workload or cap accepted peak orders.
Which planning assumptions should I stress-test?
Compare a plausible alternative scenario and verify the decision-critical assumption that changes the plan most.