Why is benchmarking with cycle times so important and what role does it play in manufacturing capacity planning? Well, determining your ideal cycle time is important because it helps to segregate the causes of work stoppages. Ultimately, that perfect time helps companies identify the main causes of downtime, while giving them the ability to track the variances in cycle times from one work cell and one work station to the next.
Benchmarking Cycle Times in Manufacturing
A number of manufacturers think that the perfect cycle time is someone’s pipe-dream, that it has no real application. Because it can’t be sustained, there’s simply no reason to go through the process of determining what that perfect time is. Most customers just tell me their MRP system provides them with their times and variances. Well, the fact is, any system can tell you what the current cycle times are, but that doesn’t tell you what they should be.
Unfortunately, in today’s manufacturing environment, a number of companies have come to rely too much on information being provided to them, rather than questioning the source of that information. Reducing times ultimately comes down to witnessing production in person. So, what are the main benefits of benchmarking with ideal cycle times and how can it help increase your throughput?
- Isolate Causes of Work Stoppages
Determining the ideal cycle time means to isolate the root causes of work stoppages. If successful, you'll reduce the impact of downtime, while establishing a performance threshold for production employees. Downtime will still occur. However, when you focus on trying to attain that ultimate cycle time each and every time, then you've essentially raised the bar on performance. In this case, it's not about attaining that time, but about trying to attain it as often as possible. That effort is what will increase your production throughput. One tool you can use is to analyze your cycle time variances.
The table and graph below are from the article: Cycle Time Tracking & Variance Analysis in Excel for Small Manufacturers. The idea is to track the cycle times emerging from individual work cells and stations. Understanding why work stoppages occur is essential to removing them as going concerns. The article includes a sample excel sheet where you can input the cycle times emerging within a given work cell. The sheet will then graph those times for you, allowing you to isolate your ideal cycle times.
- Setting Up the Ideal Work Cell
Bottom line, production employees must operate like surgeons. They must have all their tools within reach and in good working order. This involves adopting lean manufacturing principles and properly designing your work cells within work stations. When everything is in its proper place, and the work cell is properly laid out, you'll find it much easier to lower your production times. In doing this, you’ve not only identified the ideal time, but you’ve also set up a lean work cell.
You can learn more about setting up the ideal work cell by going here.
- Clean Up Bill of Materials With a Sub-Assembly Analysis
It’s amazing to think that delays can be caused by poor assembly outlines, an incomplete bill of materials list, or unclear work-orders. However, it happens all the time. When it does, most companies immediately rationalize the delays. Some companies force their production employees to work around them, while others hold them accountable for something completely out of their control. To determine the ideal cycle time means to finally put an end to the delays caused by poor documentation. One tool you can use to clean up your bill of materials is the sub-assembly analysis.
The analysis is all about isolating your most common sub-components across your entire product line by reviewing each product's bill of materials. Isolating these common consumables will reduce your inventory skews, lower your costs and reduce the impact of redundant parts. In the end, it means a more efficient inventory and a more efficient shop floor. To read more about using this tool, please go to: Bill of Materials Essentials: Sub-structure and Sub-assembly Analysis
- Empowering Production Employees
Your production employees hold the key to identifying and eliminating downtime. In most cases, production employees are an untapped resource. If approached properly, they can help to identify the true causes of work stoppages. Most importantly, they’ll appreciate being asked to provide you with their input. I’ve worked with a number of customers where the production employees made all the difference. The problem was, they were never asked until I got there.
- Determine Productivity Rates
No capital expenditure on additional equipment should ever occur without first exhausting all production resources – and that means determining the productivity rates in each work cell. Companies must have a handle on their machine utilization, the productivity rates emerging from each cell, and the role both play in their production capacity. Otherwise, it’s a shot in the dark. In the end, spending money that doesn’t need to be spent, is the same as throwing it away.
- 8 hour shift
- Two fiften minute breaks: One in the morning and one in the afternoon
- 6 & ½ hours of available work time: 390 minutes
- Lost time captured in work cell: 135 minutes
- Available work time: 390 – 135 = 255 minutes
- Productivity rate percentage: 255 divided by 390 = 65%
The example above explains how to determine the productivity rate in a given work cell. It simply involves defining the amount of available work time in the cell. Next, you document the amount of lost time that occurred. Afterwards, you deduct that lost time from your available work time in order to come up with your actual work time in minutes. The rate is simply calculated by dividing the actual work time by the available work time. You can read more about this approach by reading: Manufacturing KPI: Critical Steps to Calculating Productivity Rates
When it comes to manufacturing capacity planning, benchmarking with ideal cycle times allows companies to better plan production, eliminate the causes of downtime and increase their production throughput. It’s not about expecting production not to encounter delays. It's not about asking them to attain these perfect cycle times at all costs. The fact is, delays occur all the time in manufacturing. Instead, it’s about identifying the reasons for delays and proactively trying to eliminate them.
When manufacturers benchmark ideal cycle times, it always involves cleaning up workstations, eliminating causes of downtime, and calling upon production employees to take charge. It’s one of those tasks in business where the rewards are well worth the effort. To get a more accurate depiction of calculating benchmark times (complete with graph), please read: Should Mode Cycle Times be Your Manufacturing Benchmark Times?
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