A powder coating oven runs in batches, so capacity is set by how many parts hang on a rack and how many racks fit in one load. This recipe divides the order into oven loads, then multiplies by the cycle time to show the total hours the oven is committed.
340 parts at 12 per rack and 4 racks per load takes 8 loads and 6.0 oven hours at 45 minutes a cycle.
The example
Three orders with different rack layouts. The last load is often partial but still uses a full cycle.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Case | Parts | Per rack | Racks/load | Cycle min | Loads | Oven hrs |
| 2 | Wheel order | 340 | 12 | 4 | 45 | 8 | 6.0 |
| 3 | Brackets | 120 | 8 | 3 | 40 | 5 | 3.3 |
| 4 | Frames | 575 | 10 | 5 | 50 | 12 | 10.0 |
The formula
Parts per load is racks times parts per rack; loads are the order over that, rounded up:
How it works
Here is the logic, one piece at a time:
C2*D2is the number of parts that fit in one oven load.B2/(C2*D2)is the number of loads as a decimal.ROUNDUPcounts a partial last load as a full one because the oven still cycles.- Multiplying loads by the cycle minutes in
E2and dividing by 60 gives oven hours.
Add cool-down and rack-change time to the cycle minutes if they block the next load.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the parts, parts per rack, racks per load and cycle time.
Variations
Add changeover time between orders
Add a fixed setup time per order.
Estimate days at an hours-per-day limit
Divide oven hours by the hours the oven runs per day.
Pitfalls & errors
Parts that require different cure temperatures cannot share a load, so compute them separately.
Using ROUND instead of ROUNDUP undercounts loads whenever the remainder is under half a load.
Track the real parts per rack; a tidy hanging pattern can add parts per load without a bigger oven.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Does the cycle time include warm-up?
What about multi-pass or two-coat parts?
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