Cycle time
In workflow planning and work organization, the cycle time (or work cycle ) is the period within which components or manufacturing material leave a workstation in the production process and are further processed at a downstream workstation in the same company .
General
The REFA Association defines:
" Cycle time - also called work cycle or cycle - is the time in which a unit of measure is completed so that the flow system provides the target volume output ."
Industrial production systems are characterized by the fact that, due to the division of labor , the manufacture of a certain product usually has to go through several work steps within a defined sequence until a marketable end product is created. After the cycle time has elapsed, the semi-finished product is transferred to the next workstation and processed there. The more complex products are, the more work steps and cycle times are required for their manufacture.
The cycle time can also be specified by clients , buyers or customers in the case of individual production . Then the cycle time is the "time frame specified by the downstream process (customer) that is available for the production of a part". This cycle time is calculated as follows:
- .
Changes in working hours thus affect the sales volume .
economic aspects
Cycle production is a production principle that is particularly suitable for assembly line production , assembly lines and road production . Because of the monotonous work steps and the high labor intensity comes as remuneration form that often piecework into consideration. Clocking is a production principle in which every work station on a production or assembly line has the same cycle time available. In assembly line production, the workstations of a so-called test track have the same duration for carrying out an operation (cycle time). All operations must be adapted to this cycle time; if this is not possible, road construction must be used. As part of the timing coordination or performance coordination , one tries to distribute the work content in such a way that the work content is as uniform as possible at all workstations in the work system .
The change in the cycle time affects the sales volume. If the cycle time is shortened, the work volume increases and vice versa. This is accompanied by the error quotient , which can increase when the cycle time is reduced and vice versa. The risk of faulty production , fault costs and subsequent shortages (or overstock ) increases with reduced cycle times. Conversely, if the cycle time increases, the product quality can increase, which, however , can lead to supply gaps or delivery bottlenecks if there is a demand . Changed cycle times therefore affect the storage risk . For reasons of occupational safety and health , there are usually upper time limits for cycle times in collective agreements .
Changes in the cycle time represent an adjustment in terms of intensity , which, according to Erich Gutenberg , entails a corresponding change in operational capacity . Non-harmonized cycle times lead to involuntary work breaks (short breaks).
Individual evidence
- ↑ REFA Association for Work Design and Business Organization e. V. (Hrsg.): Methodology of work studies: Part 3 cost accounting, work design . Munich / Hanser, 1985, p. 282, ISBN 3-446-14236-3
- ↑ Klaus Bichler / Ralf Krohn / Peter Philippi, Gabler Kompakt-Lexikon Logistik , 2005, p. 175
- ↑ Hitoshi Takeda, The synchronous production system , 2004, p. 109
- ↑ Andreas Syska, Production Management , 2006, p. 145
- ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (ed.), Compact Lexicon Economy , 2014, p. 204
- ↑ REFA Association for Work Studies and Business Organization e. V. (Hrsg.): Methodology of business organization: Lexicon of business organization , Munich / Hanser, 1993, p. 179, ISBN 3-446-17523-7
- ↑ Swiss Association for Welding Technology (ed.), Technica , Volume 39, 1990, p. 131
- ↑ Erich Gutenberg, Fundamentals of Business Administration , Volume 1: Die Produktion, 1958, pp. 260 ff.