ABOUT THE TOOL

Small tools for the factory floor

CycleBench is a free utility from SmartFACT: Smart Factory using AI, operated by Obsidian Black Ltd. It helps you time repeated work cycles and changeovers on a phone and keep a record you can explain, without a stopwatch, a clipboard and a spreadsheet to copy them into.

It is useful on its own. Studies, scanning, saving and every download are free, with no account, trial or email address required. The tool does not call an AI service: timing and summaries are ordinary, predictable software.

What it is, and is not

CycleBench records what one observer sees and taps, on one device, while the page is open and in view. Each study belongs to a station and an activity that you declare, and its results describe those observations only. It is not a machine monitor, an OEE system or a labour standards tool. It does not rate, rank or identify people, feed payroll or decide whether a part is good. There is no shared live study and no cloud copy.

The workbench

ScannerBench shows exactly what a keyboard scanner sends. PrintBench checks that a printer reproduces a known PDF at the right size. FactoryCards creates 100 × 50 mm cards with Code 128 or QR, which CycleBench can scan as station, activity or reason codes. CountBench records barcode stocktakes by location. BarcodeBench explains what a barcode contains and why a check fails. ManifestBench checks scans against a list of expected IDs. FeedBench inspects and compares exact CSV and JSON files. FindBench looks up an item or location in a reviewed CSV snapshot. MatchBench compares labels with a reference scan. TagBench prepares reviewed hold and status tags. When the same job repeats every day, the SmartFACT services below automate it with rules you describe in plain English.

Help and support

These pages and the tool's on-screen notes explain each step, and Try an example in the tool opens a synthetic study to explore. The tool has no built-in problem report: to report a defect, use the SmartFACT support form, describe what you did and use synthetic values where you can. Suggestions are welcome through the feedback form. Help with the tool is free; there is no guaranteed response time, and bespoke integration work is a separate paid service.