QMS, CAPA & Quality System Management worked example

Document Review Cycle Time at 12% routing, e-signature, and approval-wait allowance: a worked example

Push routing, e-signature, and approval-wait allowance up to 12% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when document review cycle time in qms, capa and quality system management needs a defensible run time before a quote goes out.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Controlled documents queued for review: 120 units (unchanged)
  • Documents reviewed and dispositioned per minute: 12 units / min (unchanged)
  • Routing, e-signature, and approval-wait allowance: 12 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 10)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Base document review cycle time = document review cycle time workload รท document review cycle time completion rate) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 11.2 hr for required document review cycle time, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 10 hr for base document review cycle time.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 % for document review cycle time allowance applied.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12 pieces / min for document review cycle time completion rate.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where routing, e-signature, and approval-wait allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 1.82% above the baseline at 11.2 hr.
  • It converts a queue of documents and a per-minute review-and-disposition rate into base hours, then inflates that by a routing and approval-wait allowance to give required cycle time. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Required document review cycle time: 11.2 hr (headline result)
  • Base document review cycle time: 10 hr
  • Document review cycle time allowance applied: 12 %
  • Document review cycle time completion rate: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Document Review Cycle Time calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.