Final answer:
The formula to calculate Process Cycle Efficiency is A. Value Added Time / Total Cycle Time, which is used to evaluate the efficiency of a business or manufacturing process.
Step-by-step explanation:
The formula to calculate the Process Cycle Efficiency (PCE) is given by: A. Value Added Time / Total Cycle Time. Process Cycle Efficiency is a measure used to identify the efficiency of a process within a system by considering the time spent on value-adding activities in relation to the total cycle time. Value-adding time refers to the duration when the process actually contributes to the final product or service in a positive manner.
Conversely, non-value-added time represents the duration of auxiliary or wasteful activities that do not directly contribute to the final product or service. It's essential to differentiate PCE from thermodynamic efficiency in cyclic processes like a heat engine, where efficiency is determined by the ratio of work output divided by the amount of energy input, usually represented in expressions as Eff = W/Qh, where W is the net work done and Qh is the heat transfer into the system.
Although both are efficiencies, Process Cycle Efficiency specifically applies to business and manufacturing processes, and not to thermodynamics or physical engineering processes such as the Otto cycle of a four-stroke gasoline engine.