Run a Rough-Cut Capacity Plan in NetSuite Advanced Manufacturing

The quick answer

In the Advanced Manufacturing SuiteApp, go to Advanced Manufacturing > Capacity Planning > Capacity Planning and click Create Plan. Choose the Location, name the plan, set a Horizon Start and Horizon End, then click Planned Demand and Resource Supply to pull in the work orders and each work center's available hours. Click Save The Plan. Then open Capacity Planning Reports, choose the plan and Work Center Utilization By Period, and click Display Plan. Each work center shows planned hours against available hours, with a labor and a machine utilization percentage.

The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own location, plan name and dates when following the steps.

Before you start

In this example, a planner wants to know whether Lakeshore Plant can absorb the week of 10/12/2026 before any work order is released. Three work orders fall in that week: WO3101 and WO3102 for PH-300 Pump Housings, and WO3107 for GC-120 Gear Covers.

Capacity Planning is part of the Advanced Manufacturing SuiteApp, so the menu is there only when an administrator has installed it and your role can use it. Menu labels can differ by release and role. The Resource Supply step reads each work center's headcount, machines and shift hours, so those need to be set up for the work centers in your routings. A rough-cut plan compares total hours with total capacity for the period. It does not place individual operations on a timeline or find conflicts between them, so use the Finite Scheduling pages when you need that.

01. Open Capacity Planning

Go to Advanced Manufacturing > Capacity Planning > Capacity Planning. The Select Capacity Plan page lists the plans saved for a location. Pick the Location and click List. In this example, Lakeshore Plant already has one plan, Week of Oct 5 Rough-Cut.

Click Create Plan to start the new one.

Select Capacity Plan page with Location set to Lakeshore Plant. The Capacity Plans list shows one plan, Week of Oct 5 Rough-Cut, from 10/05/2026 to 10/11/2026. List and Create Plan buttons sit above the Location field. — Lakeshore Plant already has one saved plan, Week of Oct 5 Rough-Cut.

02. Set the plan header and horizon

Set Location to Lakeshore Plant.
Enter Plan Name Week of Oct 12 Rough-Cut.
Leave Plan Type as Work Orders. The other choices are Sales Orders and Demand Plan, which change where the demand comes from.
Enter Horizon Start 10/12/2026 and Horizon End 10/18/2026. Leave Time Fence as Week.

Create Rough Cut Capacity Plan page. Location is Lakeshore Plant, Plan Name is Week of Oct 12 Rough-Cut, Plan Type is Work Orders, Horizon Start is 10/12/2026, Horizon End is 10/18/2026 and Time Fence is Week. — The header for the week of 10/12/2026: Lakeshore Plant, Work Orders, Time Fence Week.

03. Retrieve the planned demand

Click Planned Demand. NetSuite warns that retrieving demand for the horizon can take a few minutes, and a plan name must be entered first. Click OK on each browser message. The last one reports how many orders it found.

The Planned Demand subtab lists the three work orders with their item, quantity, production date and a Planning Period. The planning period is the Monday of the production week, 10/12/2026 for all three. The list is a snapshot taken when you click the button, so click Planned Demand again if work orders change.

Planned Demand subtab on the Create Rough Cut Capacity Plan page. The Product Demand list shows WO3101, PH-300, Pump Housing, quantity 40, production date 10/14/2026; WO3102, PH-300, Pump Housing, 25, 10/15/2026; WO3107, GC-120, Gear Cover, 60, 10/16/2026. The planning period is 10/12/2026 for every row. — Three work orders fall in the week: WO3101 for 40, WO3102 for 25 and WO3107 for 60.

04. Review the resource supply

Click Resource Supply. NetSuite calculates each work center's availability for the horizon and tells you to review the Resource Availability tab before proceeding. Click OK, then open the Resource Supply subtab.

Each row has the work center's Head Count, Labor Shift Hours, Machines and Machine Shift Hours. Total Daily Labor is headcount times shift hours, and Period Labor Hours is that daily total times Std Days. In this example CNC Mill Cell has 2 people and 2 machines on 8-hour shifts, so it has 16 hours a day and 112 labor and 112 machine hours for the week. Deburr Bench and Final Test have one person and one machine each, 56 hours.

The plan uses these figures as the capacity, so correct anything that doesn't match how the plant runs before you continue.

Resource Supply subtab with the Resources list. CNC Mill Cell, planning period 10/12/2026, Std Days 7, Head Count 2, Labor Shift Hours 8, Total Daily Labor 16, Period Labor Hours 112, Machines 2, Machine Shift Hours 8, Total Daily Machine 16, Period Machine Hours 112. Deburr Bench and Final Test each show headcount 1, one machine and 56 period hours. — CNC Mill Cell has 112 labor and 112 machine hours for the week. Deburr Bench and Final Test have 56.

05. Save the plan

Click Save The Plan. NetSuite warns that saving can take a few minutes and reports how many supply lines it is inserting. Then the Advanced Manufacturing Capacity Planning Status page confirms the plan has been submitted and will be available for reporting shortly.

Saving a capacity plan doesn't release, schedule or change any work order.

Advanced Manufacturing Capacity Planning Status page with an OK button and the line CAPACITY PLAN HAS BEEN SUBMITTED AND WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR REPORTING SHORTLY. — The status page says the plan has been submitted and will be available for reporting shortly.

06. Open the utilization report

Go to Advanced Manufacturing > Capacity Planning > Capacity Planning Reports. Set Capacity Plan to Week of Oct 12 Rough-Cut and Select Report to Work Center Utilization By Period, then click Display Plan. The other report choice is Work Center Planned Production Summary, and Print Report produces the report as a document.

The Work Center Summary lists one row for each work center with demand: Units Planned, Planned Labor Hour, Labor Hours Available, Planned Labor Utilization %, Planned Machine Hours, Machine Hours Available and Planned Machine Utilization %.

Capacity Planning Reports with Capacity Plan Week of Oct 12 Rough-Cut and Select Report Work Center Utilization By Period. The Work Center Summary lists CNC Mill Cell, Deburr Bench and Final Test with their planned and available labor and machine hours and utilization percentages. — Display Plan lists each work center with planned hours, available hours and utilization.

07. Read utilization for each work center

Utilization is planned hours divided by available hours, for labor and for machines separately. It compares planned demand with planned capacity, not hours actually worked.

CNC Mill Cell: 24.0 of 112.0 labor hours is 21.4 percent, and 31.5 of 112.0 machine hours is 28.1 percent.
Deburr Bench: 49.0 of 56.0 labor hours is 87.5 percent, and 12.5 of 56.0 machine hours is 22.3 percent.
Final Test: 9.4 of 56.0 labor hours is 16.8 percent, and 7.2 of 56.0 machine hours is 12.9 percent.

Deburr Bench is the work center to watch at 87.5 percent. Moving work off that bench, or adding hours to it, lowers the figure. These are weekly totals. They don't show which operation runs when, or whether two operations compete for the same hour, so preview the schedule before you release the orders.

Work Center Summary for the plan Week of Oct 12 Rough-Cut. CNC Mill Cell has 21.4 percent planned labor utilization, Deburr Bench 87.5 percent and Final Test 16.8 percent. An arrow points to the Deburr Bench figure of 87.5. — Deburr Bench is the busiest at 87.5 percent planned labor utilization.

Common questions

What is a rough-cut capacity plan?

It compares the total hours the demand needs with the total hours each work center has for a period. It doesn't sequence operations, so it shows which work center will limit the week but not the order of the work.

Does saving a capacity plan release my work orders?

No. A saved capacity plan is a separate record. Releasing work orders happens on the Release Orders To Shop Floor page.

Why do I click Planned Demand again after work orders change?

The demand list is a snapshot from the moment you click the button. Click it again to pull in new or changed work orders, then save the plan.

Where do the available hours come from?

From the Resource Supply subtab, which lists each work center's headcount, machines and shift hours for every weekly planning period. Review those figures before saving, because the utilization report uses them as the capacity.

What is the difference between Work Center Utilization By Period and Work Center Planned Production Summary?

They are two choices in Select Report on Capacity Planning Reports. Work Center Utilization By Period is the one that shows planned and available hours with utilization percentages.