Cycle time is the time required to complete a full operation or process — from start to finish — repeatedly. In industrial environments, it represents the production or testing pace, being one of the most critical indicators of efficiency and delivery capability.
The shorter the cycle time (without losing quality), the higher the productivity. But the focus should be on value-added time, not just speed.
🧩 Cycle time in testing contexts
| Step Type | Examples in industrial testing cycle |
|---|---|
| Setup | Fixture change, product identification, initialization |
| Functional test | Signal measurement, simulations, digital/analog responses |
| Firmware validation | Communication with RS-485, CAN, I²C, protocol verification |
| Recording or parameterization | Firmware upload, EEPROM, calibration |
| Reporting and release | Data logging, results export, final LED |
⚙️ Factors impacting cycle time
- Complexity of the test sequence
- Communication latency with instruments
- Performance of the DUT (device under test)
- Poorly optimized wait or synchronization times
- Quality of the mechanical interface (slow or unstable jig)
- Manual operator interaction (reading, data entry)
🔧 How AJOLLY Testing optimizes Cycle Time
AJOLLY Testing applies a technical, automated, and data-driven approach to reduce cycle time without compromising test coverage.
🛠️ Optimized sequence engineering
- Parallelism between initialization, reading, and writing
- Elimination of redundancies and unnecessary waits
- Modularization and reuse of test blocks
⚙️ Efficient hardware and instrumentation
- Benches with fast switching (relays, PXI, Ethernet/IP)
- Jigs with sensors for presence and contact feedback
- Firmware recording via direct bus (without intermediate GUI)
📊 Monitoring and traceability
- Automatic logging of cycle time by product, station, and operator
- Dashboards with trends, maximums, minimums, and outliers
- Alert for deviations outside standard or abnormal slowness
📈 Advantages of controlling Cycle Time
- Higher productivity and line throughput
- Predictability of delivery capacity
- Reduction of queues, rework, and time waste
- Solid basis for OEE and Kaizen analysis
With AJOLLY Testing, cycle time is not just a number: it is a living indicator of technical efficiency, analyzed and adjusted to deliver performance with quality.