Suction cups are widely used in press lines to handle and transfer sheet metal. The release time, which directly affects production efficiency and safety, refers to the dropping off period in which the product completely separates from the suction cups. As of now, no release time data is currently available for use in evaluating press line. To provide such data, an experimental setup has been developed. The setup includes vacuum and non-vacuum system designed to simulate the release process of the press line and an electronic triggering system calculating the release time based on controlling the load. The four most commonly used suction cups, namely the large (110 mm diameter) double and single layer suction cups and small (60 mm diameter) double and single layer suction cups, were tested using the setup. The results show that the measurement system is practical and will provide important information for press line optimisation.