Operating time

In business administration and working studies, operating time is the period in which a company is ready for production and the operating resources can be used for this.

General

Operating time is the duration, location and distribution of the temporal use of the resources, whereby it does not initially matter whether and with what intensity they are used. The resources can be operated during the operating time, but this does not mean that they are actually used during this period. If the operating times are not used, these are idle times in which the operation is idle (for example in seasonal operations ). These idle times consist of work breaks ( idle time ) or interruption times during which the equipment is not used because of the work flow , for recreational purposes or because of an operational disruption .

If you subtract the idle time from the operating time, the usage time remains. But production is not uninterrupted even during the period of use, because machine start-up , work preparation and set-up times must be taken into account. If the usage time is reduced by these so-called secondary usage times , the main usage time or actual production time remains.

economic aspects

While working hours can be measured precisely, the secondary usage times in particular cannot usually be precisely quantified. The only thing that is certain is that the operating time must be longer than the working time. Operating and working hours are therefore interdependent. For operating hours, the company is the reference point, while for working hours, the focus is on the workforce . The optimal operating time lies between the most intensive and the technically maximum working hours. The operating time is a factor of the capacity , because the maximum production output is determined by the technical limit output and the maximum operating time : ${\displaystyle PL_{max}}$ ${\displaystyle \mu p}$ ${\displaystyle BZ_{max}}$

${\displaystyle PL_{max}=\mu p\cdot BZ_{max}}$.

Changes in capacity can therefore be brought about by changing the operating time and / or the technical limit performance (e.g. machine capacity). The time or intensity adjustment is available for this.

meaning

The length of the operating hours affects the overall costs of a company, so that an extension of the operating hours is advantageous if the associated cost reductions (such as capital costs ) are higher than the additional costs (higher personnel costs ). An extension of the operating time means that a higher output volume can be achieved with unchanged fixed capital costs . Long and flexible operating hours are considered to be important factors for the competitiveness of companies , industries and economies . Operating times can be set by the entrepreneur as part of production planning, taking into account legal restrictions on operating time such as the Working Hours Act (especially night work ), public holiday regulations or the shop closing act as data parameters .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Markus Dingler, Working Time Management: Design and Implementation of Working Time Models , 1997, p. 35
2. ↑ Rolf Hüpen, working time, operating time and employment , 1994, p. 13 f.
3. ↑ REFA , Methods of Working Studies , 1975, p. 29
4. ↑ Rolf Hüpen, working time, operating time and employment , 1994, p. 14
5. ^ Wilhelm Christian Hauck, Working Time Problem and Industrial Cost Management , 1929, p. 99
6. ↑ Erich Schneider , Arbeitszeit und Produktion , in: Archive for mathematical economic and social research, Volume 1, 1935, p. 36
7. ↑ Timm Gudehus, Logistics I: Basics, Procedures and Strategies , 2000, p. 256
8. ↑ Thomas Breisig (Ed.), Handwortbuch Arbeitsbedienstleistungen in der EG , 1993, p. 126
9. ↑ Hans-Günter Krüsselberg, Flexibilization of Employment Relationships , 1986, p. 76
10. ↑ Frank Stille / Rudolf Zwiener, Working and Operating Hours in Germany , in: Sonderheft DIW, Volume 160, 1997, p. 149 ff.