Cycle Time - How fast can you turn?

First - what is cycle time? The simple definition is the rate at which a product is completed by a process. Another way to think about it is the amount of time it takes for an operator to complete all work elements of a given process before starting over on another unit - kind of like running laps around a race track. The cycle time is the lap time.

When measuring cycle time, it’s important to use actual observation and not just a planned value. There are often hidden elements in a process - walking between stations, unboxing inventory, picking up and checking tools, etc. etc. - that are easy to forget about if you aren’t watching a process, and it’s not uncommon to have a situation where you might say “well attaching this bracket to the frame should take 30 seconds, I’ve done it before and it was pretty quick”, but in reality it takes significantly longer due to a varied operator skillset, quality checks that weren’t required when building a single prototype but are critical to an ongoing manufacturing process, or any number of things.

For more detail, check out this explanation of cycle time and it’s various components from Lean.org.