Shop workflow guide
Auto Shop Bay Capacity Planning
Book against usable bay time and available skills, then leave room for uncertain repair durations. Appointment capacity is separate from employee shift planning and from the hours people actually work.
Updated · Strut product team
01 / Shop workflow guide
Start with usable capacity
List each bay’s availability, equipment limits and planned downtime. Match the work to qualified staff coverage. Do not count a bay blocked by a vehicle waiting for parts as an open appointment slot.
- Separate arrival time from the expected start of repair.
- Allow for inspection, setup, test drives and cleanup.
- Review both equipment and staff constraints.
02 / Shop workflow guide
Illustrative capacity calculation
Two bays available for eight hours give 16 gross bay-hours. If planned downtime and existing work use four hours, 12 remain before allowing for uncertainty. Reserving two of those hours leaves ten hours for planned work in this example. This is a planning illustration, not a utilization target or a Strut forecasting feature.
- A five-hour job may need a continuous slot, not five scattered gaps.
- A lift-dependent job cannot use an unsuitable empty bay.
- Choose a buffer from your own duration history and risk.
Example day: two bays
| Item | Bay-hours | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Gross availability | 16 | Two bays × eight hours. |
| Existing commitments | −4 | Known work and planned downtime. |
| Uncertainty allowance | −2 | Illustrative reserve for overruns. |
| Planned new work | 10 | Subject to suitable staff and continuous slots. |
03 / Shop workflow guide
Review exceptions during the day
When a diagnosis expands, parts arrive late or someone is absent, update the capacity view and customer expectation together. Use Strut’s appointment and bay workflow to inspect the schedule; use staff scheduling for planned coverage and the opt-in Time feature for attendance records.
- Assign one person to resolve booking conflicts.
- Recheck tomorrow’s carryover before accepting more work.
- Avoid treating a planned shift as recorded attendance.
Map this to your shop