Throughput time calculator

Add up the four kinds of time a unit spends in the process: process time + inspection time + move time + wait time. If a car takes 10 hours to assemble, 1 hour to inspect, 2 hours to move between stations and waits 5 hours in queues, its throughput time is 10 + 1 + 2 + 5 = 18 hours. Use the same unit for all four.

Cycle time is how long one step takes to finish a unit, or how often a unit comes off the end of the line. Throughput time is how long one unit takes to get through the whole process, including the time it waits and moves between steps. A line can turn out a unit every 60 seconds and still have a throughput time of two days, because each unit spends most of that time in queues.

Throughput time covers the production process only, from the start of the first step to a finished unit. Lead time is what the customer sees: it runs from the order to delivery, so it adds order processing, waiting before production starts and shipping. Throughput time is one part of lead time.

No. Throughput is a rate: how many units the process finishes per hour, shift or day, worked out as units finished ÷ time. Throughput time is a duration: how long one unit takes. The two are linked by Little's Law: work in process = throughput × throughput time, so for the same throughput, more WIP means a longer throughput time.

Process cycle efficiency is process time ÷ throughput time. There is no single target, because it depends on the product and how it is made, but in batch production it is often a small percentage, since units spend most of their time waiting. The useful comparison is your own process before and after a change. Cutting wait time raises it most.