What is a Second Really Worth?

Too often, companies neglect the hidden opportunities for efficiency gains that are prevalent throughout every organization. I have always said...

“A company’s biggest opportunity for efficiency gains on the shop floor is at the beginning of each production shift.”

An employee’s clock-in time vs the actual time a machine is producing product can sometimes vary significantly depending on the protocol of y

our organization. Other obvious savings can just be a simple analysis of cycle time. Whether it is machine-controlled or operator-dependent, cycle time delays and automation speed rates should be analyzed in extensive detail.

Here is an example of how reducing a cycle time by just 1 second can have a dramatic effect on efficiency:

Assuming a machine has a 1-minute cycle time. The machine typically runs for 20 hours per day, five days per week, for 220 production days per year. Here is the calculation for reducing the overall cycle time by just 1 second.

1 min x 60 = 60 mins

60 mins x 20 hrs. = 1200 mins/day

1200 mins/day x 220 days/yr. = 264,000 mins/yr.

264,000 mins/yr. x 60 secs = 15,840,000 secs/yr.

264,000 x mins/yr. x 59 secs = 15,576,000 secs/yr.

15,840,000 – 15,576,000/60 = 4,400 mins/60 = 73.33 hrs./yr.

1 second reduction = 3.67 days per year or 4,400 additional units produced/year.

Applied Manufacturing Solutions, LLC