Capacity unit
Count productive bay-hours, not calendar appointments. One bay available for seven productive hours contributes seven bay-hours. Two bays contribute fourteen only when the shop also has the people, equipment, and job mix to use both.
Separate:
- Building access hours
- Productive installation hours
- Installer availability
- Bay or work-area availability
- Preparation and cleanup time
- Work that can happen outside a bay
This prevents an eight-hour day from being treated as eight install hours automatically.
Job classes
Define broad classes the team can recognize during intake:
- Front two windows
- Standard side-and-rear package
- Full vehicle including windshield
- Windshield only
- Existing-film removal
- Oversized or unusually complex vehicle
- Combined tint and another service
- Return inspection or corrective work
For each class, record an initial duration range and the conditions that require manual review. Use actual completed-job observations to refine the ranges; do not copy another shop’s timing as a promise.
Base time and modifiers
Useful modifiers include:
- Existing-film removal
- Contamination or condition concerns
- Difficult trim or access
- Windshield and sunroof work
- Installer experience with the vehicle
- Customer waiting versus drop-off
- Cure, inspection, or handoff requirements
- Another department sharing the vehicle
A modifier should change either duration, required skill, required bay, or the need for review. Avoid a long checklist that never affects the schedule.
Constrained resources
Some work needs more than an empty rectangle on the calendar:
- A particular installer
- A clean or temperature-controlled bay
- Lift or access equipment
- Pattern or cutting equipment
- A second person for handling
- A mobile route window
- Site access outside normal hours
Represent the binding constraint directly. Notes that say “needs Mike” do not prevent the same person from being assigned elsewhere.
Scheduling buffers
Buffers absorb known uncertainty; they are not unused time without explanation. Decide whether the shop needs:
- A small buffer between every job
- A protected recovery block each day
- More time only for high-variance job classes
- A separate arrival window before bay time starts
If the calendar repeatedly consumes the buffer, investigate the time estimate and job classification.
Arrival, work, and promise times
These are different commitments:
- Arrival time: when the customer and vehicle should be present
- Scheduled work time: when the bay and installer are reserved
- Completion expectation: what the shop communicates to the customer
A vehicle may arrive before its bay slot. A completion estimate may include inspection and handoff after installation. Keeping the times distinct reduces accidental promises.
Rescheduling rules
When a job moves, the team should know:
- Which bay and installer become available
- Which dependencies move with the job
- Whether the customer has confirmed the change
- Which downstream appointments are affected
- Whether the original duration assumption is still valid
Drag-and-drop convenience should not erase the reason or customer communication behind the change.
Planned and actual time
Sample completed work by job class. Record scheduled bay-hours and actual bay-hours using consistent start and finish definitions. Investigate large differences:
- Intake missed removal or condition
- Job was classified incorrectly
- Work waited on approval, equipment, or another service
- Installer assignment changed
- Arrival was late
- Cleanup or handoff was excluded
The purpose is to improve planning ranges, not to punish staff for every variance.
Bay scheduling in Tint Manager
Tint Manager includes company-wide calendar visibility, project-scoped events, technician assignment controls, and an automotive bay board. Tie each scheduled event to the project record so the customer promise, current scope, and installer context move together. Use the capacity calculator as a planning aid, then calibrate it with your own observed bay-hours.