There are hundreds of other issues, including pallet change time and pallet repeatability.

Pallet change time can greatly impact your “floor-to-floor” time, and the overall part cycle time and ultimately the cost per part. Some people measure pallet change unloaded, which can distort the actual times you can get.

Pallet repeatability can be critical, especially when it comes to part quality. Locating techniques, clamping, and retaining forces must be known and measured if you really want to break down what the cycle time can be.

Index and cycle time characteristics can impact overall time such as tool characteristics, like maximum size and limits. Sometimes the manufacturer will give you a maximum length, diameter, and weight. Sometimes they’ll give you a maximum total weight for a magazine. There are also terms such as pockets full, adjacent pockets empty, etc. The bottom line is the limits of the magazine.

Another aspect you don’t often see but that can be important is maximum moment, the relationship between the maximum size and moment, which can make the other numbers meaningless because it can be the determining factor.

Machine thermal control is another important aspect—temperature causes things to grow, which will greatly affect your accuracy.