Cycle Time Report

Overview

The Cycle Time Report is a process analysis tool that provides comprehensive visibility into how projects move through the production workflow over time. Unlike simple status logs that show individual status changes, this report presents each project alongside its complete status history, enabling users to analyze the time spent at each workflow stage and identify bottlenecks in the approval and production process.

"Cycle time" in manufacturing and professional services refers to the total time from the start of a process to its completion. This report applies that concept to creative project workflows, helping management understand how long projects spend in each status, which stages cause delays, and where process improvements could accelerate delivery times.

The report organizes projects by client hierarchy and displays a master-detail view where each project row expands to show its complete timeline of status transitions, including who made each change, when it occurred, and what notes were recorded. This hierarchical presentation enables both high-level portfolio analysis and detailed project-specific investigation.

Location: Navigate to Reports from the main navigation menu, then select Cycle-Time Report under the GENERAL section.

URL: /reports/cycletimereport.aspx

Access Level: All authenticated staff users (Project Managers, Account Managers, Operations Managers, Administrators)

Business Value

For Operations Management

The Cycle Time Report transforms workflow analysis from guesswork into data-driven insight:

• Bottleneck identification by seeing where projects accumulate or spend excessive time in specific statuses
• Process efficiency measurement through analysis of actual time spent at each workflow stage across multiple projects
• Resource planning support by understanding typical cycle times for different project types and clients
• SLA compliance monitoring to ensure projects meet internal or client-facing delivery commitments

For Project Managers

Project managers benefit from complete project journey visibility:

• Individual project analysis to understand why specific projects took longer than expected
• Client pattern recognition identifying whether certain clients' projects consistently experience delays
• Workload forecasting based on historical cycle time data for similar projects
• Status verification confirming that projects progressed through expected workflow stages

For Account Managers

Account managers use the report for client relationship management:

• Client portfolio overview showing all projects for specific clients with their complete status histories
• Performance documentation providing data for client discussions about project timelines
• Delivery trend analysis identifying whether project cycle times are improving or degrading for specific accounts
• Issue investigation drilling into specific projects when clients raise concerns about delivery times

For Executive Leadership

Leadership gains strategic insight:

• Operational efficiency metrics showing overall process health across the organization
• Capacity understanding based on how quickly work moves through the pipeline
• Investment justification for process improvements based on identified bottlenecks
• Comparative analysis across different client segments or business units

Business Benefits

1. Identifies Process Bottlenecks - By displaying the complete status journey for each project, the report reveals where work stalls. If many projects spend excessive time waiting at "Ready to Finalize" or "Sent to Approval," management knows where to focus process improvement efforts.
2. Enables Data-Driven Process Improvement - Rather than relying on anecdotal feedback about delays, teams can analyze actual timestamp data across hundreds of projects to identify systemic issues and measure the impact of process changes.
3. Supports Client Communication - When clients ask about project timelines, account managers can provide detailed breakdowns showing exactly where time was spent, who made each status change, and what notes were recorded at each stage.
4. Facilitates Resource Planning - Understanding typical cycle times helps managers predict delivery dates for new projects and allocate resources appropriately across workflow stages.
5. Enhances Accountability - The complete audit trail with usernames and timestamps for every status change creates accountability and helps identify whether specific team members or clients contribute to delays.
6. Improves Forecasting Accuracy - Historical cycle time data enables more accurate estimates for future projects, improving client satisfaction and internal planning.
7. Supports Quality Initiatives - Projects that cycle back through revision statuses multiple times indicate quality issues; the report makes these patterns visible for quality improvement programs.
8. Enables Client-Specific Analysis - The client hierarchy filter allows focused analysis on individual accounts, revealing whether certain clients have unique workflow characteristics requiring special handling.

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Quarterly Operations Review

Role: Operations Manager

During quarterly planning, an operations manager needs to understand workflow efficiency trends. They open the Cycle Time Report, set the date range to the past quarter, and build the report without client filters to see all projects. They expand multiple project rows to examine status histories, looking for patterns such as:

• Projects spending more than two days in proofing stages
• Multiple cycles between design and revision statuses
• Extended time in approval stages

Based on this analysis, they identify that the proofing stage is a consistent bottleneck and propose adding proofer capacity.

Scenario 2: Client Performance Analysis

Role: Account Manager

Before a client meeting, an account manager needs to understand typical delivery times for that account. They filter by the client's corporation and business unit, set a six-month date range, and build the report. For each project, they expand to see the status history and calculate:

• Average time from project submission to artwork complete
• Number of revision cycles per project
• Time spent waiting for client approvals

This data prepares them for discussions about setting realistic delivery expectations.

Scenario 3: Investigating a Delayed Project

Role: Project Manager

A client complains about a project taking too long. The project manager filters the report to show that specific client and locates the project. Expanding the status history, they see:

• Project sat in "Sent to Approval" for eight days waiting for client feedback
• Three revision cycles occurred after initial completion
• Notes show client changed requirements mid-project

Armed with this timeline, they can have an informed discussion with the client about the causes of the extended timeline.

Scenario 4: Comparing Division Performance

Role: Executive Leadership

An executive wants to compare workflow efficiency across business divisions. They run the report multiple times, filtering by different divisions, and note the average number of status changes and time between key milestones. They discover that one division consistently has faster cycle times and investigate their best practices for potential company-wide adoption.

Scenario 5: Approval Workflow Analysis

Role: Operations Analyst

An analyst is tasked with improving the approval workflow. They build the report filtered to show projects from the past year and focus on the approval-related statuses (3.5 Sent to Approval, 3.6 Sent to Approvers, 3.7 Approval Completed). They analyze:

• Average time between sending to approval and completion
• Projects that returned from approval to revision
• Notes indicating approval issues or delays

Their findings inform a redesign of the approval notification system.

Scenario 6: New Employee Training Reference

Role: Senior Project Manager

A senior PM uses the report to show new team members how projects flow through the system. They select several recent projects and walk through the status histories, explaining:

• What each status means and who typically initiates transitions
• Normal timeframes between status changes
• How notes should document work performed at each stage

This provides real-world context for understanding the production workflow.

Scenario 7: Identifying Rework Patterns

Role: Quality Manager

A quality manager wants to understand rework patterns across the organization. They build a comprehensive report and look for projects with multiple transitions to revision statuses (2.5) or error-related statuses (4.3). Projects with excessive back-and-forth indicate quality issues that could be addressed through training or process changes. They export the findings and cross-reference with the Quality Report for a complete picture.

Industry Context

What is Cycle Time?

In manufacturing and service industries, "cycle time" measures the duration from the start of a work process to its completion. It's a fundamental metric for:

Lean Manufacturing

• Identifying non-value-added time (waste) in production processes
• Setting baseline measurements for continuous improvement initiatives
• Calculating process capacity and throughput

Professional Services

• Measuring project delivery efficiency
• Setting and monitoring service level agreements (SLAs)
• Identifying bottlenecks in approval or review processes

Creative and Design Agencies

• Tracking time from brief to delivery across different project types
• Balancing workload across design, review, and approval stages
• Managing client expectations with data-backed delivery estimates

Industry Standard Metrics

Organizations typically analyze cycle time in several ways:

The Cycle Time Report supports analysis of all these metrics by providing the raw timestamp data for each status transition.

Why Cycle Time Analysis Matters

Client Satisfaction
Clients increasingly expect predictable, fast delivery. Understanding actual cycle times enables realistic commitment setting and proactive communication when delays occur.

Competitive Advantage
Organizations that deliver faster without sacrificing quality win more business. Cycle time analysis identifies opportunities for speed improvements.

Cost Control
Extended cycle times tie up resources and increase work-in-progress inventory. Reducing cycle time improves cash flow and resource utilization.

Process Maturity
Organizations with well-understood cycle times demonstrate operational maturity that builds client confidence and supports premium pricing.

How Creative Agencies Use Cycle Time Analysis

Project Type Benchmarking
Establishing baseline cycle times for different project types (new packaging, alterations, approvals) enables accurate scoping and staffing.

Client Onboarding
New clients may have unique review or approval processes that affect cycle times. Understanding these patterns early helps set appropriate expectations.

Capacity Planning
Historical cycle time data helps predict how many projects can move through the pipeline simultaneously, informing hiring and resource allocation.

Continuous Improvement
Regular cycle time review identifies trends and measures the impact of process changes, supporting data-driven operational improvement.

Business Logic Details

Project Selection Criteria

The report retrieves projects based on the following criteria:

Status Filter

• Only projects with status greater than 0 (submitted or beyond) are included
• This excludes draft or pre-submission projects

Date Range Filter

• Projects are included if they have any status transition within the specified date range
• If no date range is specified, defaults to the past year
• The filter applies to status change timestamps, not project creation dates

Client Hierarchy Filter

• Optional filtering by Corporation, Business Unit, Division, BAT, and Marketer levels
• Filters cascade: selecting a Corporation limits available Business Units, and so on
• Projects inherit client hierarchy from their assigned client record

Status History Retrieval

For each project meeting the selection criteria:

1. Full History: All status changes are retrieved, regardless of the date filter
2. Chronological Order: Statuses display in reverse chronological order (most recent first)
3. Status Details: Each entry includes:
   • Status number and description
   • Username of the person who made the change
   • Timestamp of the change
   • Notes recorded with the status change
4. Status Registry Join: Status numbers are joined with the status registry to display human-readable descriptions

Result Limits

The report limits results to 1,000 projects to ensure reasonable performance. For comprehensive analysis across larger datasets, users should apply client hierarchy filters to reduce the result set.

Data Organization

Results are organized hierarchically:

Level 1: Project Summary

• Project ID (with navigation link)
• Project name
• Client name
• Client hierarchy details (Corporation, Business Unit, Division, BAT, Marketer)

Level 2: Status History (expanded)

• Status number
• Status description
• Username
• Timestamp (formatted for readability)
• Notes

Time Zone Handling

All timestamps are stored and displayed in the system's configured time zone. Users should consider time zone when analyzing overnight transitions or comparing with external timelines.

Key Features

Filter Controls

Report Grid - Project Level

Report Grid - Status History Level

Master-Detail Display

The report uses an expandable master-detail pattern:

• Collapsed View: Shows project summary in a single row
• Expanded View: Reveals complete status history nested below the project row
• Auto-Expand: All project rows expand automatically when the report loads
• Sortable Columns: Both project grid and status grid support column sorting

Navigation Features

• Project Links: Project IDs are clickable links that open the full project details page
• New Tab Opening: Links open in new browser tabs, preserving report context
• Client Hierarchy Display: Full client path shown for each project aids filtering verification

Functional Components

Client Hierarchy Filter Component

The report uses a reusable client hierarchy filter component that:

1. Cascading Selection: Each level filters available options at subsequent levels
2. Dynamic Loading: Options load based on previous selections
3. Clear All: Single button to reset all hierarchy selections
4. State Persistence: Selections maintain state during report generation

Date Range Selection

Date pickers support flexible date range analysis:

• Optional Dates: Both from and to dates are optional
• Default Behavior: If no dates specified, defaults to past year of data
• Boundary Inclusion: Date ranges are inclusive (includes changes on the boundary dates)
• Clear Capability: Date fields can be cleared to remove date filtering

Grid Components

Project Grid

• Column auto-width adjusts to content
• Master-detail template enables expandable rows
• Data binding updates when report is rebuilt

Status History Grid

• Nested within each project row
• Independent sorting from parent grid
• Timestamp column sorts by internal ID for correct chronological order

Report Generation

When "Build" is clicked:

1. Client hierarchy filter values are collected
2. Date range values are parsed
3. API request sent with all filter parameters
4. Results returned with projects and nested status histories
5. Grid data source updated with results
6. All project rows auto-expand to show status histories

Relationship to Other System Components

Status Changes Report

The Cycle Time Report and Status Changes Report serve complementary purposes:

Together, these reports provide both audit-level detail (Status Changes) and process-level analysis (Cycle Time).

Project Status Control

Status changes recorded through the Project Status Control appear in the Cycle Time Report:

• All status transitions with notes are captured
• Username attribution traces to the logged-in user
• Timestamps record the exact moment of change
• The complete history enables cycle time calculation

Project Details Page

Project IDs in the report link to the full Project Details page:

• Clicking a project ID opens its complete project information
• Users can investigate specific projects that show unusual cycle times
• Project details provide context for understanding status history

Dashboard and Project Tracker

The Cycle Time Report complements Dashboard views:

• Dashboard: Shows current status of active projects
• Project Tracker: Shows projects at specific workflow stages
• Cycle Time Report: Shows historical journey through all stages

Quality Report

The Quality Report and Cycle Time Report together support quality analysis:

• Quality Report: Tracks specific error types found during proofing
• Cycle Time Report: Shows revision cycles and time spent in error-correction stages

Projects with multiple revision cycles visible in Cycle Time often correlate with quality issues tracked in the Quality Report.

Approval Workflow

Approval-related statuses appear in the Cycle Time Report:

• Status 3.5: Sent to Approval
• Status 3.6: Sent to Approvers
• Status 3.7: Approval Completed
• Status 3.8: Approval Finished

Analyzing time spent in these statuses helps optimize the approval process.

Summary

The Cycle Time Report is a strategic process analysis tool that transforms raw status change data into actionable workflow intelligence. By presenting each project alongside its complete status history, the report enables systematic analysis of how work flows through the production pipeline and where improvements can accelerate delivery.

Key Capabilities:

• Complete Status Journey: View the full timeline of status transitions for each project
• Client Hierarchy Filtering: Focus analysis on specific corporations, divisions, or accounts
• Date Range Flexibility: Analyze any time period from recent activity to historical trends
• Master-Detail Display: Intuitive expandable interface shows project summaries with drill-down to status details
• Navigation Integration: Direct links to project details for deeper investigation
• User Attribution: Every status change shows who made it and when

Business Impact:

• Identifies workflow bottlenecks through empirical timestamp analysis
• Enables data-driven process improvement initiatives
• Supports client communication with detailed timeline documentation
• Facilitates resource planning based on historical cycle times
• Enhances accountability through complete audit trail visibility
• Improves forecasting accuracy for project delivery commitments

The Cycle Time Report transforms project workflow from an opaque process into a transparent, measurable system where bottlenecks are visible, improvements are measurable, and delivery commitments are data-backed. For organizations committed to operational excellence, this visibility is essential for continuous improvement and client satisfaction.