Every part on a manually loaded CNC machine has a moment where the spindle is stopped and nobody has done anything wrong: the operator is swapping parts. That gap is handling time, and how a shop counts it decides whether its machines look busy or idle.
What handling time includes
- Opening the door and unclamping the finished part
- Blowing off chips and placing the part in the bin or on the gauge
- Loading and clamping the next blank
- Closing the door and pressing cycle start
It does not include setup or changeover between different jobs — that is a separate, much longer stop (see SMED). Handling time repeats for every part; setup happens once per batch.
How it changes planned output
A machine’s real capacity is set by cycle time plus handling time, not cycle time alone:
Planned parts per hour = 3,600 ÷ (Cycle time + Handling time) × Parts per cycle
Cycle time
- Value
- 90 s
Handling time
- Value
- 30 s
Parts per cycle
- Value
- 1
Planned rate ignoring handling
- Value
- 40 parts/hour
Planned rate including handling
- Value
- 30 parts/hour
| Illustrative part | Value |
|---|---|
| Cycle time | 90 s |
| Handling time | 30 s |
| Parts per cycle | 1 |
| Planned rate ignoring handling | 40 parts/hour |
| Planned rate including handling | 30 parts/hour |
Leave handling out of the target and the machine misses plan by 25% every hour, even though nothing went wrong. Check your own numbers in the production rate calculator.
Handling time vs idle time
From the controller’s side, handling and idle look identical — the program isn’t running. The difference is timing: handling is the expected window right after a part finishes; idle is anything longer, or a stop with no part just completed.
ThingConnect lets you set a handling time per part. After each part completes, that window is labelled handling rather than idle, and only the time beyond it counts as idle. The Andon board shows handling time per part alongside time in cycle, so a slow load is visible as a slow load — not hidden inside a general “idle” number.