How do you calculate cycle time?

Cycle time = net production time ÷ number of units produced. Net production time is the clock time minus planned downtime such as breaks. Example: 8 h − 30 min = 450 min = 27,000 s; 27,000 s ÷ 420 units = 64.29 s per unit. Throughput is the inverse: 3600 ÷ 64.29 = 56 units per hour.

What is the difference between cycle time, takt time and lead time?

Takt time is the pace demand requires: available time ÷ customer demand. Cycle time is the pace the process actually achieves: time ÷ units produced. Lead time (throughput time) is how long one unit spends in the system from release to completion; by Little's Law it equals WIP × cycle time. If cycle time is longer than takt time, the process cannot meet demand.

How is cycle time related to OEE?

OEE uses the ideal cycle time, the fastest design time per unit. OEE = ideal cycle time × good units ÷ planned production time. It splits into availability (run time ÷ planned time), performance (ideal cycle time × total units ÷ run time) and quality (good units ÷ total units). Example: 55 s × 410 good ÷ 27,000 s = 83.5%.

What does "capacity vs demand" mean here?

It is takt time ÷ cycle time. 100% means output exactly matches demand. 105% means the process makes 5% more than demand needs, which is spare capacity. 90% means it falls 10% short, and you need overtime, more capacity or a faster cycle.

What is process cycle efficiency?

Process cycle efficiency (PCE) = value-added time ÷ total lead time. With 20 units of WIP and a 64.29 s cycle time, lead time = 20 × 64.29 = 1286 s; if only 120 s of that is value-added work, PCE = 9.3%. Lean operations treat a PCE above 25% as good for manufacturing.

How do I find the bottleneck and balance a line?

The line cycle time equals the slowest station time (the bottleneck). Line balance efficiency = sum of station times ÷ (number of stations × bottleneck time). The theoretical minimum number of stations is the sum of task times ÷ takt time, rounded up.

Should breaks be included in the observation period?

Enter the full clock time as the observation period and put scheduled breaks, meetings and planned changeovers in planned downtime; they are excluded from cycle time and takt time. Breakdowns and unplanned stops go in the unplanned stops field: they count against cycle time and OEE availability.

Cycle Time Calculator

Cycle time = net production time ÷ units produced. Example: an 8-hour shift with 30 min of breaks (450 min = 27,000 s) that makes 420 units has a cycle time of 64.29 s/unit and a throughput of 56 units/hour. With demand of 400 units, takt time = 27,000 ÷ 400 = 67.5 s, so capacity covers 105% of demand.

Production Inputs

Observation period (clock time)

Hours

Minutes

Planned downtime (min)

Unplanned stops (min)

Planned: breaks, meetings, planned changeovers (excluded). Unplanned: breakdowns, waiting (count against OEE availability).

Units produced

Good units (opt.)

Customer demand (units)

or Takt time (s)

Ideal (design) cycle time (s, for OEE)

WIP (units)

Value-added (s/unit)

Fill in the inputs and click Calculate to see your cycle time results.

Line balance: bottleneck cycle time

Enter each station's cycle time in seconds, separated by commas or new lines. The line runs at the speed of its slowest station. Takt time from the calculator above is used for the minimum station count.

Station times (s)

Cycle time vs takt time vs lead time

Metric	Formula	Answers	Example (shift above)
Cycle time	planned time ÷ units	How fast are we producing?	27,000 s ÷ 420 = 64.29 s
Takt time	planned time ÷ demand	How fast must we produce?	27,000 s ÷ 400 = 67.5 s
Ideal cycle time	design / nameplate rate	How fast could we produce?	55 s
Throughput	3600 ÷ cycle time	Units per hour	56.0 units/h
Lead time	WIP × cycle time	How long does one unit wait and flow?	20 × 64.29 s = 21.4 min
OEE	ideal CT × good ÷ planned time	Share of planned time that is fully productive	55 × 410 ÷ 27,000 = 83.5%

Worked example

An 8-hour shift has 30 minutes of breaks, so planned production time is 450 min (27,000 s). The line made 420 units, 410 of them good, and stopped for 20 minutes of breakdowns.

Cycle time = 27,000 ÷ 420 = 64.29 s/unit, or 56.0 units/h. While running (430 min) the cycle was 25,800 ÷ 420 = 61.43 s. With demand of 400 units, takt time = 67.5 s; 67.5 ÷ 64.29 = 105% of demand, so the line keeps up with 5% to spare.

OEE with a 55 s ideal cycle: availability 25,800 ÷ 27,000 = 95.6%, performance 55 × 420 ÷ 25,800 = 89.5%, quality 410 ÷ 420 = 97.6%. OEE = 83.5%; world-class is usually quoted as 85%.

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Summary

Cycle time is the average time between completed units: the net production time divided by the number of units made. This calculator turns a shift record (clock time, planned breaks, stops, units and good units) into cycle time, throughput and daily capacity, compares it with takt time from customer demand, and, when you enter an ideal cycle time, breaks performance into OEE availability, performance and quality. It also applies Little's Law (lead time = WIP × cycle time) for process cycle efficiency, and balances a line from station times to find the bottleneck.

How it works

Enter the observation period (clock time) and the planned downtime (breaks, meetings, planned changeovers). Planned production time = clock time − planned downtime.
Enter units produced. Cycle time = planned production time ÷ units; throughput = units ÷ time.
For takt time, enter customer demand for the same period (takt = planned production time ÷ demand) or type a takt time directly.
Optionally enter unplanned stops, good units and the ideal (design) cycle time to get OEE = availability × performance × quality.
Optionally enter WIP units and value-added time per unit for Little's Law lead time and process cycle efficiency.
Paste station times (seconds) to find the bottleneck, line balance efficiency and the minimum number of stations for the takt time.

Use cases

Turn a shift tally into cycle time and units per hour for a production board.
Check whether a line can meet customer demand by comparing cycle time with takt time.
Split lost output into OEE availability, performance and quality losses.
Estimate manufacturing lead time and process cycle efficiency from WIP using Little's Law.
Find the bottleneck station and line balance efficiency before a kaizen event.
Estimate daily and weekly capacity from a measured cycle time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-10-10 · Reviewed by Nham Vu

Cycle Time Calculator

Production Inputs

Cycle Time vs. Takt Time

OEE

Lead Time (Little's Law)

Line balance: bottleneck cycle time

Cycle time vs takt time vs lead time

Worked example

Summary

How it works

Use cases

Frequently Asked Questions

Cycle Time Calculator

Use the Cycle Time Calculator

Production Inputs

Cycle Time vs. Takt Time

OEE

Lead Time (Little's Law)

Line balance: bottleneck cycle time

Cycle time vs takt time vs lead time

Worked example

Summary

How it works

Use cases

Frequently Asked Questions