Three staff can build 570 units a day. Does that mean 570 hungry people get fed? Not even close. This week you find out why, with nothing harder than division.
Learning objectives. After this week you can (1) simplify a ratio and compute a rate, like revenue per unit; (2) use a proportion to scale a known rate; and (3) compute your capacity and utilization from your own Daily Report.
Remember this: totals tell you what happened. Ratios tell you why.
1) Ratios and rates
Rate = Quantity A ÷ Quantity B
A ratio compares two numbers: 420 units served by 3 staff is 420:3, which simplifies to 140:1, or 140 units per staffer. 100:60 and 200:120 are the same ratio, even though one truck sold twice as much. A rate is a ratio with a "per" in it: dollars per unit, units per staffer, profit per truck-day. Revenue of $2,660 on 380 units served is 2,660 ÷ 380 = $7.00 per unit.
2) Capacity: the rate your truck runs on
Capacity = Staff × 190 units
Each staffer can build up to 190 units a day, so three staff give a 570-unit ceiling and five give 950. Capacity counts units, not customers: one customer who buys a burger, fries and a drink uses three. Each staffer also needs $200 in your wage budget, and the sim only fields the staff the budget covers: a $500 budget fields 2, not 3. A later truck's crew gives a little less, so your Daily Report prints the real capacity in its Mechanics zone.
3) Proportions: scaling a known rate
a ÷ b = c ÷ d → cross-multiply: a × d = b × c
Your crew served 540 units with 3 staff. How many staff does 900 units take at the same pace? 540 ÷ 3 = 900 ÷ x, so x = 900 × 3 ÷ 540 = 5 staff. Staff come in whole people, so always round up: 640 units ÷ 190 = 3.37, and covering all 640 takes 4.
4) Utilization: the efficiency ratio
Utilization = Units Served ÷ Capacity × 100, where Capacity = Staff × 190
Utilization is the share of your capacity you actually used. It never goes above 100%: you cannot serve more than your crew can build. Low utilization means you paid a crew to wait, because part of every wage is owed even on a quiet day.
Try it
You fielded 4 crew, and each one adds 190 units of capacity.
Capacity = Staff × 190
Fill in the boxes.
Worked example 1: reading a truck-day
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Staff | 3 |
| Capacity (3 × 190) | 570 |
| Units served | 420 |
| Utilization (420 ÷ 570 × 100) | ≈ 74% |
| Revenue | $2,835 |
| Revenue per unit (2,835 ÷ 420) | $6.75 |
Three divisions, and the day has a story: about a quarter of the crew's capacity went unused.
Try it
You served 179 units against a capacity of 570.
Utilization % = Units served ÷ Capacity × 100
Fill in the boxes.
Quick self-check
You field 4 staff and serve 608 units at $6.50 average revenue per unit. (a) Capacity? (b) Utilization? (c) Revenue? (Answers: 4 × 190 = 760; 608 ÷ 760 = 80%; 608 × $6.50 = $3,952.)
Common mistakes
- Utilization upside-down. It is served ÷ capacity. Over 100% means you flipped it.
- Counting customers as units. A burger, fries and a drink use three units of capacity.
- Rounding staff down. 3.37 staff cannot cover the demand; it takes 4.
This week in the arena
Pick one day from this week's Daily Reports. Work out its capacity, utilization and revenue per unit served by hand, then check the first two against the Mechanics zone. Was that day short of customers or short of hands? Bring your answer to your crew.