Calculate cycle time per unit, production rate, required run time, or output quantity from net production time and units, with seconds, minutes, and hours.

Average net running time per unit. Keep the time and output from the same run; exclude breaks and downtime unless intentionally included in your chosen basis.

Fractional quantities are allowed for divisible output.

Cycle Time Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the cycle time of a produced product.

CT = RT / P
  • Where CT is the cycle time (mins/part)
  • P is the total units produced (parts)
  • RT is the total run time for the parts produced (min)

To calculate cycle time, divide the total run time by the total number of units produced.

Cycle Time Definition

A cycle time is defined as the total time it takes to produce one unit of a product or manufactured good.

Cycle Time Example

How to calculate cycle time?

  1. First, determine the number of parts produced in a shift.

    For this example, we will say that 1000 parts were made.

  2. Next, determine the length of the shift.

    For this example, assume 8 hours = 480 min of net production time, excluding breaks and downtime.

  3. Finally, calculate the cycle time.

    Using the formula we find the cycle time to be 480/1000 = 0.48 min/part (28.8 seconds per part).

FAQ

What is cycle time?

A cycle time is a measure of how long it takes to produce a given part. For example, it may take 20 min to run 10 parts. The cycle time is then described as 2 min per part.