The container count is the number outside, in washing and waiting ready at the same moment, and it is worked out at peak; a daily volume average does not show it. A hypothetical example: each shift goes out with 40 containers, they return in 6 hours and washing takes 2 hours. If the first shift leaves at 06:00, its containers are ready again at 14:00.
| Second shift starts | Containers needed |
|---|---|
| 14:00 (containers out of the wash) | 40 |
| 13:00 (first shift's containers in the wash) | 80 |
One hour of overlap doubles the container need, so writing the washing hour into the shift plan gains capacity without buying containers. If the wash line cannot turn 40 containers in 2 hours, more containers only grow the pile of dirty ones. The busiest day of the week gets its own line in the plan, and the calculation is checked by counting the containers outside every morning for a week.
