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CYCLE TIME REDUCTION

 

“Be Fast or Be Past”

 

By Ben Boldt – Visionary Solution Resources, Inc.

  

In the competitive world of manufacturing, customers are demanding fast and responsive services for the delivery of their orders.  These requirements are not just a trend, but an absolute fact of life.  Not being able to meet such demands is likely to lead to the extension of the company. 

 

Cycle time reduction is an important approach in the tool chest of performance improvement methods. Cycle time reduction focuses on the opportunity to shorten the time to complete the many process activities that must be executed between the receipt and the delivery of an order – for goods or services.  The longer the cycle time the higher the costs to the company engineer, produce and fulfill the order.

 

An important method to improve operating performance, is continuously reducing the time it takes – cycle time or through put time – to complete each and every activity in each business process in the Company.  Cycle time is identifiable for a specific activity, business process or the Company as a whole.  A company’s “total” cycle time is the sum of the cycle times of all activities in all the process of the company. 

 

A process is a sequence of linked activities that need to be completed in order to complete the process.  In the “big” picture, cycle time could be viewed as the time it takes from the receipt of an order until the payment from the customer is deposited into the bank.  In a more traditional view, cycle time would be the time it takes from receipt of instructions to machine a part until the part was complete and the machine ready for the next order. 

 

It is important to understand the four components of an activities cycle time.

                                                                           Components of Cycle Time

        WAIT              MOVE             DELAY           PROCESS 

               Begin ----------------------------------------------------------->Complete

                                                                           Total Cycle Time

 

Wait Time – is the time an “item” – order, email, material – is waiting to be

 moved to the next activity that needs it.

 

Move Time – the time during which the item is physically moved from

                        the last activity to the next. 

 

Delay or Set Up Time – the time from when the item is ready to be processed at

                        the next operation, until the work actually starts.

 

Process Time – the time it takes to complete the work once it has begun

  

When summed together, these four elements of time are the cycle time for the activity or process being reviewed.  So why is that important?  Since Wait, Move and Delay time are usually 65% to 80% of the total cycle time and can usually be reduced at almost no cost – providing a very high return on investment – it is the place to start. Once these cycle time elements are reduced, attention can be focused on the benefit/cost relationship to reduce further reduce the cycle time through new equipment or other higher cost investments.

 

Post Script – Improving an Engineer-To-Order company’s operating and financial performance can lead down many paths.  Clearly, an ERP system solution could be one.  Other paths to improvement include Process Re-Engineering, certain Lean Manufacturing Principles, Structured Work Flow, Supply Chain Management, Activity Based Cost Management and Performance Measurement and Reporting.  Working with your management team to select the “better” solutions for your company is just one of the many values Visionary Solution Resources’ services provides to the Engineer-To-Order manufacturer.

 

 For more information on how to initiate a process reengineering program at your company contact Ben Boldt at info@visionarysolutionresources.com or visit our website - www.visionarysolutionresources.com for examples of the results we have helped our clients achieve. 

 

Visionary Solution Resources, Inc. is an Alliance Partner of Beach, Fleischman & Co. PC in Arizona.