Understanding CNC machine cycle time and knowing how quickly you can produce a specific quantity of parts enables you to price your jobs accordingly and ensure a positive return for your operation’s bottom line. In addition, careful calculation of cycle times lets you compare two or more  processes to determine which is more practical for a project.

With more pressure to meet tight lead times and decrease overall project costs, many machine shops take every measure possible to reduce production cycle times without sacrificing quality. Learn more about some of the critical elements of machine cycle times and how to maximize your shop’s productivity.

How to Calculate Cycle Time

Machine cycle time relates to the time it takes to produce a product, from the beginning of the manufacturing process. The general formula for these calculations involves dividing the number of parts produced by the total production time. While this formula appears simple at face value, various direct and indirect factors contribute to the overall production time.

While older CNC machine and chip-making equipment models have limits regarding feed rates and speed, today’s equipment features high-performance designs geared toward fast speeds and superior efficiency. One of the primary rules of success for managing an efficient shop is keeping all the machinery running without overlooking the time needed for proper preventive maintenance.

Once a shop establishes a baseline cycle time operators can take several practical approaches to improve efficiencies.

Factors That Can Lead to Reduced CNC Cycle Times in Production

For each job, several factors determine how fast CNC equipment can run, including the tooling condition, the toolpath, the surface finish, the cut depth, and the machine model. Choosing an efficient machine and practical manufacturing process can significantly affect these factors and influence machine cycle time. For example, utilizing a newer model 5-axis machining center can result in shorter cycle times compared to the capabilities of a 3-axis model.

Factors that can lead to lagging cycle times include:

• Feed rates: Faster feeds can reduce cycle time in production and improve chip management. At the same time, excessively fast feeds can sometimes jeopardize surface finish and reduce tool life. Shops must determine the ideal feed rates to meet production demands without sacrificing quality.
• Reduced machine speeds: Speeds involve the revolutions per minute at which a tool or part rotates, factoring in elements like part diameter or surface footage. An optimal feed rate enables a tool to remove the most material in the shortest time while minimizing wear. Many factors can negatively influence machine performance, including poor lubrication, substandard equipment, and operator inexperience.
• Equipment failure: Equipment failure occurs when unplanned downtime or production stoppages arise from breakdowns, unexpected maintenance, or tooling failure. The impact of equipment failure can range from fixable issues that last a few minutes to catastrophic losses taking days or weeks to remedy.
• Setups and adjustments: Setups and adjustments are planned stoppages during production resulting from changeovers, scheduled maintenance, or tooling adjustments. Other elements under the setup umbrella include warmup time, machine cleaning, and quality control inspections.
• Minor stops and machine idling: The minor stops and machine idling category involves short machine stoppages lasting a few minutes that do not require maintenance personnel to fix. Examples include material jams, misfeeds, blocked sensors, and incorrect machine settings.

Tips for Reducing CNC Machine Cycle Time in Manufacturing

A business can increase profitability by reducing cycle times because every minute saved in the production process is valuable. Although high-performance equipment is a critical factor for improving efficiencies, shop management is also essential to the improvement process.

Machines with the ability to cut at faster speeds have little benefit if they are sitting idle waiting for a setup from an operator. In addition to investing money in productive tools and equipment, today’s most efficient shops analyze the fundamental elements of the production process to reap the benefits of faster equipment and reduced cycle times.

Here are five tips to help minimize machine cycle times:

1. Use high-quality cutting tools: Your cutting tools will ultimately determine the quality of the product you produce. In metal working, you should never sacrifice product quality to save money. Although you may initially experience some savings with lower costs, inferior equipment typically results in slower speeds, reduced efficiencies, decreased quality, and more frequent replacement.
2. Manage preventive maintenance: Effective machine maintenance is vital in machine shop production efficiency. Inspecting and cleaning your CNC machine tools, lines, and controllers before each job helps minimize minor stops and downtime later. More importantly, it’s crucial to schedule time to perform the regular maintenance tasks specified in your machine’s manual without creating bottlenecks in your workflow.
3. Implement machine planning: Like preventive maintenance, managers should schedule projects to decrease downtime between workstations while considering the flow of other jobs on the floor. If you continuously have stacks of work piling up at multiple workstations, you need to analyze your processes to improve performance. Choosing better equipment with increased capabilities is the first step in improving production speed and reducing cycle times across your operation.
4. Invest in new technologies: Advancements in technology over the past two decades have changed machine efficiency in machine shops globally. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software helps shops create programs that support various manufacturing processes, including cutting, milling, and turning. These programs can significantly improve machine cycle times by keeping the tool engaged and maintaining constant chip thickness using various cutting angles and variable feed rates.
5. Complete employee training: Fostering employee growth and talent will result in superior production and performance, especially if you have adopted the most optimal processes and selected reliable, modern equipment. Cross-training operators to run multiple CNC machines, punch presses, band saws, and cutting tables is an effective way to streamline your processes. Investing in your workforce pays off significantly down the road.

All these tips trace back to the most critical tool — a commitment to continually improving each phase of the production process in your shop.

Discover More With KAAST Machine Tools

The team at KAAST Machine Tools understands the importance of efficient cycle times for your metal working equipment. Since 2010, we have offered some of the industry’s most productive, easiest-to-use CNC machine tools to clients in the United States and globally. We engineer our machinery to perform in the most demanding manufacturing environments while requiring minimal upkeep.

Learn more about cycle times and how our extensive equipment line can improve your operation. Call 610-441-7317 or contact us online to request additional information or get a quote for any of our machine models.