I am a big believer that quality and consistency in making concrete products is more important than cycle time. I see in so many concrete factories I visit machine operators may be running the machinery at a fast cycle time of 7 seconds, but each hour he is only operating at 70% efficiency. This is because operators are stopping and starting the machine for various reasons and not paying attention to quality. I would rather see an operator produce at a steady 10 second cycle time, obtain 98% efficiency and not put as much wear and tear on the machinery by trying to operate the machine faster. Many times running faster can also lead to producing a higher percentage of unusable products by trying to operate the machinery too fast on certain products.
Another key factor in the speed of a working cycle times of each machine is their mold specific production working area and pallet size. This can vary greatly depending on which machine system you choose. The larger the working area, generally the slower the machine cycle will be. For example, a large pallet machine may operate 12-15 seconds per cycle. Because the working area of the mold is large a lot of products can be made per cycle.
A machine with a smaller mold working area will usually operate at a faster cycle time such as 6-10 seconds per cycle because there is less area to fill the mold with concrete mix. However, because it has a smaller mold working area will also produce fewer products per cycle.
Generally taller products take a longer cycle time to produce than the shorter products. Normally, concrete products that require a higher strength psi (MPA) have a longer cycle time. This is because it takes more time to fill and compact the mold with concrete to achieve a higher strength product in most situations depending on your concrete materials being used.
