cycle time, normal time and standard allowance

1. SERVICE OPERATION MANAGEMENT Cycle Time Normal Time Allowance

2. Time Studies The classical approach to time studies was developed by Frederick W. Taylor in 1911, and is the accepted procedure for production analysis. A time study, also termed a stopwatch time study, is an analysis of a worker`s performance against a time standard. Time studies are normally performed on short repetitive production types of tasks.

3. How is a time study performed? There are several basic steps which must be followed in any time study: Define the job to be analyzed. Break the job into discrete tasks. Measure the actual time required for each task. Develop a statistically significant sample size of the task work cycles to be measured. 

4. Cycle Time Operator Cycle Time • total time required for a worker to complete one cycle of an operation Machine Cycle Time • total time for a machine to finish one complete cycle • includes loading and unloading

5. Normal Time Normal time = (average element time) x (Performance rating / 100) The normal time for a particular employee is rated against the average job element time

6. Allowance This may take into consideration personal factors as well as unavoidable constraints encountered in the work situation. Allowances include all unavoidable delays, but rule out avoidable delays. An allowance factor represents time lost due to personal factors, shift adjustments, improper equipment, fatigue, and related issues.

7. Standard Time When calculating the standard time, three different types of time are actually utilized. Actual time is the time a particular employee actually takes to perform a particular job operation. Normal time is the time needed to complete an operation by an employee working at 100% efficiency having no delays. Standard time is the time needed to complete an operation by an employee working at 100% efficiency with unavoidable delays:

8. Standard time = normal time + allowance time Standard time = normal time / (1 - allowance fraction) Allowances are generally applied to total cycle time as some percentage of it, but sometimes these are given separately for machine time as some % and for manual effort time some other %.