Free Tool · Interactive

Constraint Mix Calculator

When a resource runs out, the most profitable product is not the one that earns the most per unit. It is the one that earns the most per unit of the thing you have least of. Enter your constraint and your products, and the ranking updates as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere, the maths runs in your browser.

The Binding Constraint
Machine-hours, labour hours, warehouse slots, cash, a bottleneck station. If nothing genuinely runs out, this framework does not apply and you should simply sell more of everything profitable.
Your Products
Product Price Variable cost Machine-hours per unit Max demand
Leave a row blank to ignore it. Leave max demand blank if you could sell as many as you can make. Variable cost only, since fixed cost does not change with the mix.
Reset to example numbers
Contribution from the best mix
$55,500

Ranked by contribution per unit of the constraint
# Product Contribution per unit Machine-hours per unit Contribution per machine-hour Units to make Hours used Contribution

If you ranked by contribution per unit instead
That mix would earn
$45,000

What the constraint is worth
One more machine-hour is worth
$15.00

Rank flip
Rank flip: the same products ranked two waysRanked by contribution per unit: 1 Premium unit, $45.00; 2 Standard unit, $30.00; 3 Economy unit, $12.00. Ranked by contribution per machine-hour: 1 Standard unit, $20.00, fully made; 2 Premium unit, $15.00, partly made; 3 Economy unit, $12.00, not made.Ranked bycontribution per unitRanked by contributionper machine-hourStandard unit$30.00Standard unit$20.00fully madePremium unit$45.00Premium unit$15.00partly madeEconomy unit$12.00Economy unit$12.00not madeRank flip: the same products ranked two waysRanked by contribution per unit: 1 Premium unit, $45.00; 2 Standard unit, $30.00; 3 Economy unit, $12.00. Ranked by contribution per machine-hour: 1 Standard unit, $20.00, fully made; 2 Premium unit, $15.00, partly made; 3 Economy unit, $12.00, not made.Ranked bycontributionper unitRanked bycontribution permachine-hourStandard unit$30.00Standard unit$20.00fully madePremium unit$45.00Premium unit$15.00partly madeEconomy unit$12.00Economy unit$12.00not made
Value of one more machine-hour
Value of one more machine-hourEach step is a product, in the order the best plan fills capacity: Standard unit at $20.00 for 2,100 machine-hours; Premium unit at $15.00 for 3,000 machine-hours; Economy unit at $12.00 for 800 machine-hours. At your 3,000 machine-hours, one more is worth $15.00.02,0004,0006,000$0$10$20$30Contribution per machine-hourMachine-hoursShaded area = best plan contributionStandard unitPremium unitValue of one more machine-hourEach step is a product, in the order the best plan fills capacity: Standard unit at $20.00 for 2,100 machine-hours; Premium unit at $15.00 for 3,000 machine-hours; Economy unit at $12.00 for 800 machine-hours. At your 3,000 machine-hours, one more is worth $15.00.02,0004,0006,000$0$10$20$30Contribution per machine-hourMachine-hoursShaded area = best plan contribution

With two or more bottlenecks, no ranking gets this right. The Pricing & Optimization Toolkit solves the mix directly.

The thinking behind this tool: Why More Volume Doesn't Always Mean More Profit →
It works through a factory where the premium line earns $45 a unit and the standard line earns $30, and the standard line is the better business.

This assumes one dominant constraint. When several bind at once the simple ranking can mislead, and the mix becomes a genuine optimisation problem. The free Pricing Optimization model solves that case with Solver. Start a conversation →