Product Engineering
Three ceilings — reed, cover, loom speed. The smallest margin is the answer, and below 1 the fabric does not exist.
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Smallest margin across all three limits; below 1 is not producible
A margin comfortably above 1 on all three still does not guarantee the fabric weaves well — it says only that the geometry and the machine are compatible. Yarn quality, sizing, shed geometry and weave structure decide whether it runs, and a plain weave at a given cover factor is far harder to produce than a twill or satin at the same figure, because floats relieve the crowding that cover factor measures. The maximum cover factor input should therefore be set per weave rather than per mill. Reed density also assumes a uniform draft; fancy and mixed-dent drafts need checking dent by dent.
Woven Construction Feasibility Checker — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.