gennemløb

Gennemløb is a Danish term used in production, logistics, and process management to describe how much work passes through a system and how long it takes for work to move from the start to the end of a process. The meaning can refer to either the rate at which units are completed (throughput) or the total time a unit spends in the system (throughput time), depending on the context.

Throughput rate refers to the number of units that are finished in a given period, typically expressed as units per hour or per day. It is influenced by system capacity, the presence of bottlenecks, line balance, and quality yield. Calculation examples include total completed units divided by a time interval or the minimum capacity across stages of a process.

Throughput time, sometimes called lead time or cycle time in related literature, is the total time a unit spends inside the process, from entry to exit. This includes processing time and any waiting or queueing time between stages. Reducing throughput time is a common objective in Lean and continuous improvement initiatives, often achieved by smoothing work, reducing setup times, or removing non-value-adding steps.

In practice, gennembløb is used to assess and compare process performance, plan capacity, and identify opportunities for improvement. It is applicable to manufacturing lines, service processes, and data or information pipelines, where the flow of work or data is a central performance measure.

See also: throughput, lead time, cycle time, bottleneck, capacity planning.