Cycle time is the time a process actually takes per part — from one part being finished to the next being finished. Compared with the takt time, cycle time shows whether a station can keep up with customer demand.
Cycle time is measured, not estimated: a stopwatch or machine data over a representative number of cycles, including the natural variation. The average often hides the problem — it is the variation and the longest cycles that create queues.
In balancing charts (yamazumi), each station’s cycle time is stacked against the takt line, so over- and underload become visible, and work can be redistributed.