Before we start with definitions and formulas, let’s imagine ourselves on a shop floor. Let’s picture a production line, where three rather different products are being made:
That is of course not exactly how it happens in real life. But it will help us understand cycle times in general and how they work in Evocon.
These three rather different products are made interchangeably, and here is one shift that made them all:
So, from 14:00 the Evocon device was being produced, at 17:06 there was a changeover to optical sensor, and at the end of the shift Mr. Evocon managed to make a batch of T-shirts as well.
Each of these products has it’s “Ideal cycle time” defined in the Settings. For example, T-shirt has these settings (under Settings → Products):
So, we see that the ideal cycle time for T-shirt on this particular production line (line No.3) is 1 piece per minute (on other lines it is set up differently, as you can see).
<aside> ☝ Ideal cycle time in manufacturing refers to the fastest time in which a machine or production line can complete a single production cycle without interruptions and under optimal conditions. Some clients also use the term takt time, however this term means something else. ****In our system we also use a more intuitive term target speed.
</aside>
Now, these are the ideal cycle times - the theoretical target, which is not supposed to be achieved 100% in actual reality (according to the correct OEE philosophy). The real cycle times are called the actual cycle times.
Let’s take a closer look at the end of the shift, where 14 T-shirts were produced, and let’s focus one one particular T-shirt, that was recorded in the system at 21:53:
We can see that the green slice is 1 minute long, and that matches the ideal cycle time configured for this T-shirt (one T-shirt per minute). So, the machine is performing at its top speed.
But the next T-shirt was registered with a delay:
