The Lead Time and Cycle Time Debate: When Does the Clock Start?

Lead time and cycle time are two essential metrics in Kanban but the definitions of these terms often vary. To avoid confusion, it’s important to understand the purpose behind these metrics. Lead time is the amount of time between a request being made and the request being delivered to the customer. Cycle time, on the other hand, measures the time between work beginning on a request and the request being delivered to the customer. By measuring these metrics, teams can gain a better understanding of how efficiently their system operates and identify opportunities to improve flow. However, we must be careful that our efforts to decrease lead time and cycle time do not negatively impact other parts of the business. Instead, we need to focus on improving the delivery of value to our customers.