Utilisation is 85%. Lead times have doubled.

Nobody added work and nobody left, yet the queue keeps growing, because the line between how busy a team is and how long customers wait was never straight.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for Utilisation is 85%. Lead times have doubled.

A familiar pattern: headcount is flat, order intake is roughly flat, and utilisation has crept from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties over about a year. Everyone reads that as good news. Then the complaints start. Jobs that used to turn round in two weeks now take four. Clients ask for dates the team won’t commit to. The operations lead asks for another pair of hands and is told the numbers don’t justify it: there is still 15% of capacity unused. The numbers do justify it. The mistake is treating capacity…

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