Capacity of Equipment

the volume of output (work) produced per unit of time by a given piece of equipment in accordance with the equipment’s design properties and technical characteristics and the production skills of the operators. Equipment is a component of fixed production assets; it acts directly on the article that is being produced, moves the article through the production process, and implements the control of production flow. The classification system used in the USSR distinguishes power equipment (nuclear reactors, generators, engines, turbines, electrical apparatus), operating equipment (coal cutter-loaders, conveyors, hammers, presses), measuring and regulating instruments and devices, and laboratory equipment. A distinction is made between rated capacity, designed capacity, planned capacity, and actual capacity of equipment.

The capacity of power equipment is determined by its power output, that is, by the quantity of work produced per unit time; this capacity is measured in kilowatts. The capacity of operating equipment is determined by the output per unit time; this capacity is measured in units that vary by type of equipment. For instance, the capacity of metal-cutting machine tools is measured by the number of parts produced per hour, the capacity of rolling mills is measured by the number of tons of rolled stock produced per hour, and the capacity of computer equipment is measured by the volume of data processed per unit time. Capacity of equipment is a necessary component in estimating the productive capacity of an enterprise.