The first step in developing time standards for an operation is to define the cycle. A cycle is the finite period of time with distinct start and end points within which a series of basic motion elements is performed. An example is the put away of a pallet from the receiving dock into storage. The cycle could start with the operator obtaining the pallet at the receiving dock and end with the operator returning to the dock for the next pallet. Smaller cycles may also exist within a cycle. However, the analyst must pay careful attention to the frequency of occurrences, so as not to double count any operations. In the following example of a typical putaway operation, suppose that a cycle is a day's worth of work. A regular workday starts when the operator mounts a fully charged truck at the battery charging area and ends when the operator dismounts from the truck after putting away a day's worth of pallets.