You need more output than first shift can produce. Which is cheaper?
Capacity and automation ratings are on your Production page. A second shift carries a labour premium on the overtime units only — the first-shift units are unaffected.
Is my plant utilisation costing me Balanced Scorecard points?
Capsim rewards utilisation between roughly 100% and 180%. Below 100% you own plant you are not using and pay depreciation on all of it. Above 180% you are deep into second shift and the premium is eating your margin.
Should I sell capacity I am not using?
Idle capacity costs you twice: depreciation every round, and Balanced Scorecard points for utilisation below 100%. Selling it returns cash and lifts utilisation — but you cannot buy it back cheaply if demand recovers.
Capacity and Second Shift in Capsim, Explained
Your first shift capacity is the number of units a production line can build in a round at normal labour rates. Produce more than that and Capsim runs a second shift automatically, paying a labour premium — typically 50% — on every unit above first shift capacity. You can produce up to double your first shift capacity in total, which is why plant utilisation is expressed as a percentage that can reach 200%.
The two costs, side by side
Buying capacity costs cash immediately, at roughly $6.00 per unit plus $4.00 for each point of automation on that line. It arrives the following round, not this one. It then depreciates over fifteen years, which is a charge against profit in every round whether you use the capacity or not.
Running a second shift costs nothing up front. It costs a labour premium on the overtime units only, every round you do it. No cash outlay, no depreciation, no commitment — but the cost repeats forever and it lands directly on contribution margin, which is a scored Balanced Scorecard metric.
The decision rule
Compare the total second shift premium over the rounds you have left against the cost of buying the capacity, less whatever you could recover by selling it at the end. In the early rounds, buying usually wins because the capacity serves you for the whole game. In the last two rounds, the second shift almost always wins, because a plant bought in round seven barely produces anything before the simulation ends and you still carry its full cost.
Why utilisation above 100% is not a failure
Students often read a second shift as a mistake. It is not. Capsim awards full Balanced Scorecard points for utilisation between roughly 100% and 180%, which means running some overtime is the simulation telling you your plant is correctly sized. A plant at 70% utilisation is the real problem: you paid for capacity, you are depreciating all of it, and you are losing scorecard points for the idle portion.
When to Buy and When to Run Overtime
| Situation | Usually right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds 1–3, growing segment | Buy capacity | The plant serves you for five or more rounds, so the cost spreads thin and you avoid a permanent margin drag. |
| Rounds 6–8, any segment | Second shift | A plant bought this late barely produces before the game ends but carries its full cost and depreciation. |
| Shortfall under about 10% | Second shift | Not worth a capital purchase, and a small overtime bill is cheaper than depreciating a mostly idle expansion. |
| Cash is tight | Second shift | Buying capacity out of a thin cash balance is how teams meet Big Al's emergency loan. |
| Utilisation already near 200% | Buy capacity | You are at the ceiling. More demand simply cannot be supplied, and a stockout costs the whole contribution margin. |
Fund it properly if you buy
Capacity is a long-lived asset, so fund it with long-lived money. Raising bonds in the same round you buy the plant keeps your cash balance intact and matches the financing to the asset. Buying capacity and automation in the same round, out of cash, while producing to an optimistic forecast, is the exact sequence that produces most emergency loans in the simulation. Model it in the emergency loan estimator first.