Manufacturing term
What is cycle time?
How long one station actually takes to complete one part, start to start.
What else it is called
- In French
- temps de cycle
Related entries
Understanding cycle time
Measured, not estimated, and measured at the station rather than across the line. The number that matters is what a stopwatch says over ten consecutive parts, including the part where the operator reaches for a gauge that is not there.
It is routinely confused with three other numbers. Takt time is set by demand. Lead time is what the customer experiences, from order to delivery. Throughput time is how long one part takes to cross the whole plant including every queue and wait. Mixing them up is the commonest reason a capacity calculation turns out to be wrong, and the reason a quoted lead time and an actual one diverge.
How it is calculated
Cycle time = time from the start of one part to the start of the next, at one station
Start to start rather than start to finish, because the gap between parts is where the loading, gauging and waiting lives - and that is usually the larger half.
In practice
If the press cycles every 42 seconds but the operator needs 70 seconds to load, deburr and set the next blank, your cycle time is 70 seconds. The machine specification is not the cycle time, and quoting from it overstates capacity by two thirds.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between cycle time and lead time?
Cycle time measures one operation. Lead time measures the customer’s whole wait, from placing the order to receiving the goods, including material procurement, queueing between operations, inspection and shipping. A plant can have excellent cycle times and terrible lead times, and usually does, because most of a lead time is waiting rather than working.
Should cycle time include setup and changeover?
No. Cycle time is per part in a running job; changeover is separate and measured separately, because the two are improved by completely different means. Lumping them together hides both.