Operational Frameworks

Workshop Capacity Planning for UK Garages

Filling every slot can leave no room for work to run late or change. Workshop capacity planning helps a garage weigh technician hours, ramp space, the work booked in and realistic promised times.

Estimating Workshop Capacity

Start with the people and ramps available, then allow for breaks, handovers, moving vehicles, diagnosis and the admin that comes with each job. There is no single utilisation figure that suits every garage.

Available Hours

Techs × Daily Hours

The absolute maximum time on site. Not a target to sell against.

Target Utilisation

Set for your garage

A planning assumption for time available after breaks, handovers and other non-repair work.

Productive Capacity

Available × Utilisation

An estimate of hours that remain available for bookings after planning adjustments.

Overbooking Buffer

Set for your workload

Time held back for walk-ins, unexpected work and jobs that expand after diagnosis.

The Ramp Constraint: Always cross-reference your time capacity against physical space. If you have 4 technicians but only 3 ramps, your ability to take on clutch replacements or heavy suspension work is dictated by the ramps, not just the hours.

Protecting the Promised Time

A service adviser needs to understand what is already in progress before agreeing the next booking. Without a view of capacity, it can be hard to set a realistic arrival or completion time.

  • Check current work in progress (WIP) before agreeing the next booking.
  • Allow room for diagnosis that may uncover additional repairs.
  • Separate drop-off times from workshop start times where it helps planning.
  • Give front-of-house a clear view of the next action for each vehicle.

TorqueOS diary and capacity

TorqueOS connects incoming bookings with the work on the workshop floor. The diary gives the team a clearer view of jobs they have accepted.

TorqueOS shows technician capacity and ramp planning alongside the workshop diary and incoming bookings. Every TorqueOS package is available now.

Start a 14-Day Free Trial for the live Workshop package. Our team sets up your trial access manually, including workshop capacity and ramp planning.

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Straight answers

Capacity planning FAQs

Common questions about managing workshop capacity and the TorqueOS approach.

What is the difference between available hours and productive hours?

Available hours are the time technicians are contracted to be on site. Productive hours are the time available for vehicle work after breaks, job handovers, movement between jobs and necessary admin.

How should I plan work for ramps versus technicians?

Ramps are a physical constraint and technicians are a time constraint. Capacity planning should account for both the space a job occupies and the productive labour it needs.

Does TorqueOS automatically calculate workshop capacity?

TorqueOS includes workshop capacity planning for the diary, bookings, technicians and ramps. Use the live capacity view to plan the day's work and make realistic promises to customers.

See TorqueOS in Action

Let's discuss how your workshop currently handles capacity and how TorqueOS supports the diary.

How should we contact you?

A valid UK mobile number is required because a mobile call is your preferred contact method.

TorqueOS is available now. Start with what you need and add more as your workshop grows. Engage (£39/month) is retention-only; Lite (£69/month) is for a small garage; Workshop (£129/month) is for team control; and Complete (from £199/month) is for the whole operation. Multi-site plans are tailored; extras are scoped separately. See full pricing.