Notes:

Long range—greater than one year. Where productive resources take a long time to acquire or dispose of, such as buildings, equipment, or facilities. Long-range capacity planning requires top management participation and approval.

Intermediate range—monthly or quarterly plans for the next 6 to 18 months. Here, capacity may be varied by such alternatives as hiring, layoffs, new tools, minor equipment purchases, and subcontracting.

Short range—less than one month. This is tied into the daily or weekly scheduling process and involves making adjustments to eliminate the variance between planned output and actual output. This includes alternatives such as overtime, personnel transfers, and alternate production routings.