Plant capacity check for private equity

When it helps

The model assumes more output than the plant has ever shipped.
Management says the plant is at capacity, but lead times and work in process keep growing.
The case depends on on-time delivery that the plant doesn’t hit today.
Capital spend for more equipment is in the plan, and you want to know what can be won back first.
A new portfolio company needs a 100-day plan for operations, built from the floor rather than the board deck.

What we look at

How the plant really flows. A value stream map from the floor and the plant’s own data: where work waits, for how long, and why.
What sets the pace. The point the line is paced from, and how much it can really make per day against what the plan assumes.
Work in process and lead time. How much is started but not finished, how old it is, and what that means for lead time and cash.
Inventory where it matters. Whether stock sits where work waits and protects delivery, or is spread everywhere and protects nothing.
The schedule against reality. Whether the floor follows the business system’s schedule or works around it, and how priorities are really set.
Recoverable capacity. Time lost at the pacing point to changeovers, rework, waiting and breakdowns that can be won back before capital spend.

What you get

A capacity read-out: what the plant can make at today’s pace, and what limits it.
Recoverable output before capital: where time is lost at the pacing point and what it takes to win it back.
Risks for the model: lead time, work in process, delivery and inventory assumptions that the floor doesn’t support.
A first 100-day outline: how to pace the line, where to hold buffer inventory, and what to measure from day one.
A working session with your deal or operating team to go through it.

How it runs

Fixed scope, fixed fee, agreed up front and timed to your deal calendar. A data request first, then time on the floor with the plant manager, scheduler and supervisors, then the read-out. After close, the same work becomes the first step of the 100-day plan: a Diagnostic, a six-week Sprint and coaching until the plant team runs it.

Results from real plants

Two-plant, high-mix hand-tool manufacturer: forge output up 25%, and the retry rate at the step that set the pace down from 30–60% to under 2%, while running more than 40 people short. Read the case study.
Make-to-order furniture manufacturer: on time in full from about 60%, with overtime, to 100%; inventory turns from 3.0 to 4.2; the best shipping month in company history three months after go-live. Read the case study.

Sources: the case-study pages linked above.

Questions deal teams ask

When is the best time for a plant capacity check?

Before the deal, when the model assumes more output than the plant has shown it can make, or in the first weeks after close, before the 100-day plan is fixed.

How much access do you need?

A walk of the floor, a few hours with the plant manager, scheduler and supervisors, and the report exports the plant already runs: open orders, routings, shipments and inventory. Before close we work within whatever access the process allows.

What do we get at the end?

A short written read-out and a working session with your deal or operating team: what the plant can make at today’s pace, what holds it back, what can be recovered before any capital spend, and a first 100-day outline.

Is it confidential?

Yes. We don’t name clients, portfolio companies or sponsors, and we sign your confidentiality agreement before we see anything.

What does it cost?

A fixed fee for a fixed scope, agreed before we start and timed to your deal calendar.

More on what to look for: spotting a capacity constraint in operational due diligence.

What can this plant really make?