Production worked example

Cycle Time with available shift time of 240 min: a worked example

Suppose available shift time falls to 240 min. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Check takt, cycle time, throughput, and utilization for a shift or line.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Available shift time: 240 min (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 480)
  • Breaks & meetings: 30 min (held at the documented default)
  • Planned downtime: 20 min (held at the documented default)
  • Customer demand: 1,200 units / shift (held at the documented default)
  • Actual units produced: 1,100 units (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Net available time = Shift − Breaks − Planned downtime.
  • Cycle time works out to 10.36 sec / unit at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Takt time works out to 9.5 sec / unit at these inputs.
  • Throughput works out to 347 units / hr at these inputs.
  • Net time works out to 190 min / shift at these inputs.
  • Utilization works out to 91.67 % of takt at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where available shift time sits at 480 min and the headline result is 23.45 sec / unit, this scenario comes in 55.81% below the baseline at 10.36 sec / unit.
  • Calculates line cycle time, takt time, throughput, net available time, and utilization from the same shift assumptions. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Cycle time: 10.36 sec / unit (headline result)
  • Takt time: 9.5 sec / unit
  • Throughput: 347 units / hr
  • Net time: 190 min / shift
  • Utilization: 91.67 % of takt

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Cycle Time calculator, set available shift time to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.