National print versus plant file
Federal Reserve G.17 printed manufacturing capacity utilization at 76.0% in July 2026 (Source: Fed G.17). That series is a country-level industrial-production picture. It is not a Cincinnati spindle log. ISM PMI is a different national thermometer. The market report keeps those prints in context. Your CIM still needs your hours.
BLS OEWS May 2025 prints a welder median of $53,750 (Source: BLS OEWS). A fully booked weld bay at that wage can still be a bad job-cost story.
Maintenance windows, setup families, and the number of estimators who can actually release a job are part of practical capacity. A shop that is “booked solid” because one person quotes everything is owner-dependent, not utilized. Equipment-age pages explain the cash chip when the hours are real and the iron is tired. Deferred capex is not an add-back. It is a price chip against cash at close.
How it works still wants machine-hour logs. The market report keeps national prints in context. The benchmarks owner keeps plant ratios honest. This page stays on the ratio. Do not invent a utilization premium. Jason Taken is a business broker.
What denominator should a seller use?
Practical capacity — the hours the shop can actually staff and maintain — not a nameplate that assumes three shifts and no setups. Backlog that exceeds practical capacity is a late file, not a trophy. Equipment age and capex explains why a 90-percent story can be deferred maintenance in disguise.
A shop that is booked solid because one person quotes everything is owner-dependent, not utilized. Maintenance windows and setup families are part of practical capacity. Deferred capex on tired iron is a cash chip, not an add-back. National prints stay labeled. Fed G.17 is a country picture. PMI is a survey. BLS wages are labor prices. None of them is your spindle log. Do not invent a utilization premium.
How it works still wants machine-hour logs. FAQ owns the questions. The benchmarks owner is the process home. Jason Taken is a business broker.
How buyers should test the number
Ask for machine-hour logs, overtime, and the last six months of on-time ship. ISM’s August 2026 PMI printed 54.6 (Source: Industry Today / ISM). A rising survey does not prove your denominator.
| Measure | What it is | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Plant utilization | Your hours / practical capacity | Fed G.17 |
| Fed G.17 76.0% | National series | A CIM quote |
| PMI 54.6 | Diffusion index | A capacity ratio |
Overtime, setup time, and the last six months of on-time ship test whether the ratio is real. A one-week sprint is not a year. Nameplate capacity that assumes three shifts and no setups is a fiction. Practical capacity is the hours the shop can actually staff and maintain. Backlog that exceeds practical capacity is a late file. Equipment-age and deferred-capex pages explain why a busy floor can still be a cash chip at close.
National prints stay labeled. Fed G.17 76.0 percent is a country picture. ISM PMI 54.6 is a survey direction. BLS wage cells are labor prices. None of them is your spindle log. How it works still wants machine-hour logs before anyone exclusive. FAQ owns the questions. The glossary hands you to the benchmarks owner, then to a confidential intro call. Jason Taken is a business broker.
If the only utilization proof is a whiteboard in the office, ask for the machine-hour export. Whiteboards reset. Logs do not. A year of logs plus overtime and on-time ship is the file. A week of “we are slammed” is not.
A second shift that exists only on the org chart is not practical capacity. Count the people who actually stood at the machines last quarter. If that headcount cannot staff the hours in the CIM, the ratio is a wish. BLS wage cells remind you those hours have a price. They do not rewrite the denominator. The benchmarks owner keeps plant ratios honest. This page stays on the ratio.
What this page will not do
It will not invent a utilization premium. Jason Taken is a business broker. The glossary sends you to the owner. After the noun is straight, book a confidential intro call.