Calculate Cycle Time Formulas

What is the Cycle Time Formula?

The Cycle Time Formula is an essential manufacturing KPI to understand in manufacturing. It is used by ERP and MES systems for scheduling, purchasing and production costing. It is also a critical part of the OEE calculation (use our OEE calculator here). Fortunately, it is easy to calculate and understand.

(Don’t get Cycle Time confused with Takt Time, though, which is a pretty common mistake.)

Cycle Time: This is how long it takes to make a part or how long it takes the machine to complete a cycle. Some machines produce multiple parts per cycle while others only produce one.

Cycle Time Measurements

Cycle times can be expressed in many different units of measure below are a few of the most common and what you find in many manufacturing analytics systems like SensrTrx.

• Parts per Minute
• Minutes per Part
• Seconds per Part
• Parts per Second
• Hours per Part
• Parts per Hour

We will show you how to calculate cycle time in any of the above units and how to convert it, too. From the list above, it may seem like there are 6 different formulas but there are really only 2:

• Parts per Time Period
• Time Period per Part

There are two components of the formula:

Total Parts Produced: Including scrap and good parts

Production Run Time: How long the machine running when the parts are produced (Do not include planned or unplanned downtime)

Parts per Time Period Cycle Time Formula

Total Parts Produced / Production Run Time = Actual Cycle Time (parts/min)

Parts per Time Period Cycle Time Calculation:

10 parts/min = 1,200 parts / 120 minutes 

How To Do Cycle Time Formula in Excel

How would you calculate cycle time formula in Excel or Google Sheets?

Simple Example: 

Cell A-24 = # of parts

Cell B-24 = Minutes of production run

Formula = (=A24/B24)

Time Period per Part Cycle Time Formula

This formula is useful with longer cycle times like 30 minutes per part (which is the same as 2 parts per hour, but more on that later).

Time Period per Part Cycle Time Calculation:

30 minutes/part = 120 minutes / 4 parts

Cycle Time Conversions

Often, you will need to convert cycle times into another unit of measure. You can use the list below as a cheat sheet to convert the various formulas into parts per minute.

Minutes per Part

1 / Minutes per Part = Parts per Minute

Seconds per Part

(1 / Seconds per Part) * 60 = Parts per Minute

Parts per Second

Parts per Second * 60 = Parts per Minute

Hours per Part

(1 / Hours per Part) / 60 = Parts per Minute

Parts per Hour

Parts per Hour / 60 = Parts per Minute