Cycle Time Management
摘要
This chapter first defines the basic concepts, such as cycle time, step cycle time, and remaining cycle time, and discusses the relationship between these times. Subsequently, cycle time management is defined and its six activities are introduced: cycle time prediction, cycle time modeling and analysis, management support, cycle time control, cycle time reduction, and cycle time learning. Relevant cases or references are reviewed to illustrate the importance and implementation of each activity. From the review results, the most studied cycle time management activities include cycle time reduction, cycle time modeling and analysis, and management support. In addition, difficulties faced by cycle time management are also summarized. Recently, some advanced information technologies have emerged that can be used to overcome the difficulties of cycle time management and improve its effectiveness: Industry 4.0, big data analytics, edge computing, cloud computing and ubiquitous computing, explainable artificial intelligence, etc. How these advanced information technologies can help improve the effectiveness of cycle time management are discussed. References supporting these potential applications are also reviewed.