Capacity forecast

What is this?

The capacity forecast (Plan → Capacity forecast) shows per station type whether your stations cover the scheduled and not-yet-scheduled tests of the coming weeks — for example "are our climate chambers enough next quarter?" or "do we need more cyclers?". It uses the same schedule as the occupancy calendar and the double-booking warning, and shows weekly utilisation, the highest number of concurrent tests and how many stations are missing. What-if scenarios let you try additional stations or a moved project without changing the plan.

How to use it

• Horizon and target utilisation: At the top, choose 8, 13 or 26 weeks and a target utilisation of 70, 80 or 90 %. The target is the buffer for retests, failures and changeovers — 80 % is a good default. The first week starts now, not last Monday.
• One card per station type: It shows the number of stations ready for use, the overall utilisation for the horizon and an assessment:
  • Capacity is sufficient — no week above target utilisation and never more concurrent tests than stations.
  • Above target utilisation — little buffer in some weeks.
  • Peak load — at times more tests are meant to run at once than there are stations, even if weekly utilisation looks harmless. Staggering starts is often enough.
  • Not enough capacity — plan and backlog don't fit under the target within the horizon; the card says how many stations are missing.
• Weekly bars: Utilisation per week in percent. Blue = normal, orange = more concurrent tests than stations (shown below, e.g. "3/2"), red = above target utilisation. The dashed line is the target. Hover over a bar to see booked and available hours.
• Backlog: Open test cases without a place in the plan — no station, no computable date (sequence without a start) or a date that has already passed. The card shows the hours and by when the backlog fits into free capacity. Without an assigned station, the type is derived from the allowed stations or station types of the test case template when it is unique.
• What if — additional stations: Use "+"/"−" on a card to calculate with hypothetical extra stations of that type.
• What if — move a project: Pick a project at the top and enter the weeks (negative = earlier). All of the project's bookings are moved in the calculation.
• Reset scenario: Removes all what-if assumptions. Scenarios are never saved; they only live in the page address and can be shared as a link.
• Via agent/MCP: The get_capacity_forecast tool returns the same figures, including what-if scenarios (see Agent tokens).

How it is calculated

• Available hours: Every station counts around the clock (24/7), minus its next maintenance window and its reservations. Stations with the status "Out of service" are not counted.
• Booked hours: Open test cases (pending or in progress) with a station, in their computed time span from the schedule. Attended tests only occupy their station during working hours.
• Missing stations: (booked hours + backlog − available hours × target) ÷ (hours in horizon × target), rounded up.
• As with the occupancy calendar and conflict check, the 50 most recent projects are included.

Common issues

• "A type shows 0 % utilisation although tests are planned there." The test cases have no station assigned or their sequence has no start — they then count as backlog, not as bookings. Assign a station or set the sequence start.
• "Test cases without a unique station type are not included." The test case has no station and its template allows no station type or several. Assign a station, or set exactly one allowed type (or stations of one type) on the template.
• "Utilisation looks too low." A station is available 24/7. For purely attended benches with 40 working hours per week, the achievable utilisation is therefore around 25 %. Watch the peak load there instead.
• "A station in maintenance is still counted." Only the status "Out of service" removes a station completely. Maintenance takes effect through the maintenance window you maintain (see Stations).
• "I can't select the project to move." Only projects with bookings in the selected horizon are offered.
• "Notice: very large plans are truncated." More than 50 active projects, 200 stations or 1,000 reservations in the horizon — the forecast then works with a subset.