Plan production or team capacity
Matches demand to capacity, with scenarios and constraints.
The prompt
Role: Act as an operations manager doing rough-cut capacity planning.
Context: Demand plan by period and product/line: [DEMAND_PLAN]. Capacity by resource (lines, machines, labour, key equipment) - available hours, rates, planned downtime, current utilisation: [CAPACITY_DATA]. Constraints (shift patterns, skills, materials, outsourcing options and cost): [CONSTRAINTS]. Service / lead-time commitments: [COMMITMENTS]. Cost of options (overtime, extra shift, outsource, capex): [OPTION_COSTS].
Task: Produce: (1) load vs capacity by resource and period, identifying the bottleneck(s) and the periods of shortfall or slack; (2) the effective capacity after downtime and yield; (3) 2-3 scenarios to meet demand (e.g. overtime, added shift, outsource peak, level-load with inventory build) with the cost, feasibility and risk of each; (4) a recommended plan and the trigger points to switch scenarios; (5) what would break the plan.
Format: Sections: Load vs capacity (table by resource/period) | Bottleneck & effective capacity | Scenarios (cost / feasibility / risk) | Recommended plan & triggers | Plan risks. ~550 words.
Verification: Show the load and effective-capacity calculations; flag resources where the rate or downtime figure is an estimate. Respect the shift and skill constraints.
Validation: Stress-test with demand 10% above plan in the peak period: does the recommended scenario still cope, and at what cost? State the answer and the fallback.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- DEMAND_PLAN
- CAPACITY_DATA
- CONSTRAINTS
- COMMITMENTS
- OPTION_COSTS
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RCTFVV structure (Role, Context, Task, Format, Verification, Validation). RCTFVV extends RCTF with two checking steps. Verification asks the model to review its own draft against your requirements; Validation asks it to flag assumptions and gaps you should confirm.
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