WhenMathCapacity Gap Calculator
Enter capacity you have and demand you need to cover, and see the gap between them, a surplus if capacity exceeds demand or a shortage if it doesn't.
Worked example
100 hours of capacity against 120 hours of demand comes back as a 20-hour shortage, since demand exceeds what is available by exactly that amount. The same 100 hours of capacity checked against 80 hours of demand instead comes back as a 20-hour surplus, the identical gap size but in the opposite direction, purely because demand now falls short of capacity rather than the other way around.
Common mistakes
- Comparing capacity and demand measured over different time windows, like a week of capacity against a month of demand. Both numbers need to cover the exact same period for the comparison to mean anything.
- Treating a reported shortage as automatically solvable through overtime or hiring. This only reports the size of the gap, not whether or how it can be closed.
Limitations
This is a single subtraction of the two numbers supplied. It does not determine hiring, overtime, or whether a reported shortage is actually solvable given real constraints.
Frequently asked questions
- What does zero gap mean?
- Capacity exactly equals demand, with no surplus and no shortage, so there is no room left for anything unplanned to be absorbed.
- Do capacity and demand need to be measured over the same time window?
- Yes, comparing a week of capacity against a month of demand produces a meaningless result, so both numbers need to cover the exact same period before being compared here.