Manufacturing Cycle Time

Suppose a furniture manufacturing company is producing a certain line of chairs. Let's break down the time spent on each stage of the manufacturing process:

It takes 3 hours of Process Time to prepare and assemble the parts of the chair. 30 minutes is then spent on Inspection Time to ensure an acceptable level of quality. A total of 15 minutes is accumulated on Move Time, as the chair proceeds through the production line. And a total of 1 hour is spent in Queue Time, as the chair waits to be moved from one stage to the next.

Manufacturing Cycle Time = 3 hours (process time) + 0.5 hours (inspection time) + 0.25 hours (move time) + 1 hour (queue time) = 4.75 hours

So, for this example, the Manufacturing Cycle Time for producing one chair is 4.75 hours. This understanding can lead the company to identify areas of inefficiency and work to reduce the Cycle Time, aiming to improve productivity and reduce costs.

Just like with many manufacturing metrics, Cycle Time benchmarks can significantly vary depending upon the specifics of the industry, manufacturing process, and the type of product being produced. Some highly automated industries might have very short Cycle Times, while others that involve more manual labour or complex assembly procedures might have longer Cycle Times.

However, regardless of the industry, a common benchmark for Cycle Time is to aim for it to be as short as possible without compromising the quality or safety of the product. This is because a shorter Cycle Time generally implies increased production efficiency, higher throughput, and lower costs.