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Practical guide · Value stream mapping and flow

Takt time: the formula, a worked example and what to do when you cannot meet it

Short answer

Takt time is the available production time divided by customer demand. It tells you how often one finished unit has to come off the line to keep up with what customers are buying. A line with 420 minutes to work in a day and demand for 360 units has a takt time of 70 seconds.

Takt time = available production time / customer demand. A line with 25,200 seconds of working time a day and demand of 360 units a day has a takt time of 70 seconds. Any station with a cycle time above 70 seconds cannot meet demand without overtime or stock.

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A short story from the plant floor

· 0:49

What's takt time? Explained like I'm five

A 60-second explainer of takt time. A one-hour birthday party with twelve friends who each want a warm cookie means one cookie every five minutes, and baking faster than that only makes a pile.

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Transcript

Taken from the script the voices read.

  1. 0:00Gurpreet. Explain takt time like I'm five.
  2. 0:03Takt time is available time divided by customer demand.
  3. 0:06No. Simpler.
  4. 0:08Okay. Picture your birthday party. It lasts one hour.
  5. 0:11Why not longer? Parties should last forever.
  6. 0:15Parents come at the hour. That is all you get.
  7. 0:17Twelve friends come. Each wants one cookie.
  8. 0:21I'll bake all twelve at the start!
  9. 0:23Then they sit cold. Spread them across the hour.
  10. 0:26So how often is one cookie ready?
  11. 0:29Sixty minutes divided by twelve friends. Five minutes.
  12. 0:33But I can bake faster. Faster is better!
  13. 0:36Faster just makes a pile nobody asked for.
  14. 0:39You already do this. You pace snacks to last a movie.
  15. 0:42So takt time is the pace my friends need.
  16. 0:46Exactly. The customer sets the beat.

What is takt time?

Takt time is the available production time divided by customer demand: how often one finished unit must come off the line to keep up with what customers buy. The Lean Enterprise Institute's Lean Lexicon says its purpose is to match production with demand. The customer sets it, not the plant. You cannot improve takt by working faster; you can only meet it or miss it.

The word is German. The Lexicon describes takt as a precise interval of time, like a musical meter, and traces its use in production to the German aircraft industry of the 1930s, where it was the interval at which an aircraft moved to the next station. The same source says the idea was widely used inside Toyota in the 1950s and across Toyota's suppliers by the late 1960s.

Takt is also the first of the three elements of standardized work in the Lexicon, next to work sequence and standard inventory. That is why it shows up everywhere in lean: on the standard work combination table, on a Yamazumi chart, in a value stream map and in just-in-time production.

The takt time formula

Takt time = available production time / customer demand. Both numbers must cover the same period. If time is per day, demand is per day. The answer comes out as time per unit, most often in seconds.

What counts as available time

  • Start with the scheduled shift time for the period.
  • Take off planned stops: meal breaks, rest breaks, team meetings, planned cleaning.
  • Do not take off unplanned stops such as breakdowns, changeovers that overran or waiting for material. Those are problems the line has to solve, and hiding them inside the formula makes takt look easier than it is.
  • For two or three shifts, add the available time of each shift.

What counts as demand

Use what customers need from this line in the period: firm orders plus the forecast you are committed to build. Use good units. If the line makes several products, add their demand together to get one takt for the line. A week or a month of demand divided by working days gives a steadier daily figure than a single day's orders.

The takt time calculator does this arithmetic for one to three shifts if you want to check your own numbers.

Is the takt sum ready to divide?

  1. Do the time and the demand cover the same period, such as a day?

    If no

    Convert one to match the other. Time per day needs demand per day.

  2. Is available time the scheduled time less planned stops only?

    If no

    Put back breakdowns, overrun changeovers and waiting. They are line problems, and taking them off makes takt look easier than it is.

  3. Is demand the good units this line must supply, with all its products added together?

    If no

    Recount from firm orders plus the forecast you are committed to build, in good units.

  4. Every answer right

    Divide available time by demand. Check by multiplying takt by demand: you should get the whole available time back.

Three checks before dividing. Time and demand must cover the same period. Available time is scheduled time less planned stops only. Demand is good units for the whole line, products added together. Then divide time by demand and check by multiplying back.

Most wrong takt numbers fail one of these three checks before the arithmetic starts.

A worked example

Illustrative example. A gearbox assembly line runs one 8 hour shift, five days a week. Customers take 1,800 gearboxes a week. The line stops for a 30 minute lunch, two 10 minute breaks and a 10 minute start-up meeting.

Illustrative: takt time for the gearbox line

Example numbers

Takt time = available production time ÷ customer demand

Check the other way: 360 units x 70 s = 25,200 s, which is the whole available day.

  1. Shift length =8 hours x 60= 480 min
  2. Planned stops =30 lunch + 20 breaks + 10 meeting= 60 min
  3. Available time =480 - 60= 420 min
  4. Available time in seconds =420 x 60= 25,200 s
  5. Daily demand =1,800 a week / 5 days= 360 units
  6. Takt time =25,200 / 360= 70 s
Takt time70 s
Planned stops come off the shift first. What is left, 25,200 seconds, is shared between the 360 gearboxes customers need that day.

So one gearbox has to leave the line every 70 seconds. That single number now sets the pace for every station, for material delivery and for how many people the line needs.

Takt time versus cycle time versus lead time

The three get mixed up because all of them are times. They answer different questions, and only one of them comes from the customer.

Takt time, cycle time and lead time side by side

  • Takt time

    Question it answers
    How often does the customer need one unit?
    Where it comes from
    Calculated from available time and demand
    Who sets it
    The customer
    On the gearbox line
    70 s
    How you change it
    Only demand or working time changes it

  • Cycle time

    Question it answers
    How long does this station take to finish one unit?
    Where it comes from
    Measured at the station with a stopwatch or video
    Who sets it
    The process as it runs today
    On the gearbox line
    52 to 85 s by station
    How you change it
    Remove waste, move work, change the method

  • Lead time

    Question it answers
    How long does one unit take to get through the whole process?
    Where it comes from
    Measured from start to finish, waiting included
    Who sets it
    The process plus all the queues between steps
    On the gearbox line
    Hours or days, depending on stock between steps
    How you change it
    Cut queues, batches and waiting
Takt is outlined because it is the only one of the three that the customer sets. Cycle time and lead time are measured, and both can be improved.

The Lean Lexicon defines cycle time as the time required to produce a part or complete a process, as timed by actual measurement. Takt is the target and cycle time is the reality you compare with it. Lead time is a different measure again, and cycle time versus lead time walks through that difference on one part.

Reading a line against takt

Time each station for at least ten cycles and write the cycle time next to takt. On the gearbox line the five stations look like this.

Illustrative: station cycle times against a 70 s takt
StationWorkCycle time (s)Against takt
1Fit bearings5218 s under
2Press shaft646 s under
3Assemble housing8515 s over
4Torque and seal5812 s under
5Test and pack619 s under
Total work content320

Station cycle times against a 70 second takt

Example numbers
  • Station 1: 52 seconds against a takt of 70
  • Station 2: 64 seconds against a takt of 70
  • Station 3: 85 seconds against a takt of 70
  • Station 4: 58 seconds against a takt of 70
  • Station 5: 61 seconds against a takt of 70

Cycle time in seconds by station against a takt of 70: station 1 at 52, station 2 at 64, station 3 at 85, station 4 at 58, station 5 at 61. Only station 3 is over takt.

The grey tick on every column is takt, 70 seconds. Station 3 at 85 is the only column above it, and it limits the line to 296 gearboxes a day.

Station 3 is the problem. At 85 seconds a unit it can finish 25,200 / 85 = 296 gearboxes in the day, which is 64 short of the 360 customers need. The other four stations have spare time, so the line as a whole has enough labour. It is in the wrong place.

Takt also tells you the smallest crew that could run the line. Total work content divided by takt is 320 / 70 = 4.6, so five people is the minimum, which is what the line has. How many operators do you need works through that sum in detail.

What to do when cycle time is above takt

Work through these in order. The early steps cost almost nothing. The later ones cost money every day they stay in place.

When cycle time is above takt: the order of fixes

  1. 1

    Check the measurement

  2. 2

    Take waste out of the slow station

  3. 3

    Move work to stations with spare time

  4. 4

    Change the method or the equipment

  5. 5

    Add capacity at that station only

  6. 6

    Use overtime or stock as a stopgap

Start at step 1. The first three cost almost nothing. Steps 5 and 6 add cost for every day they stay in place.
  1. 1

    Check the measurement

    Watch the station again. Make sure the cycle time is for one unit, covers the whole repeat of the job and was not timed during a problem. Check that takt used the right demand and the right breaks.

  2. 2

    Take waste out of the slow station

    Look for walking, reaching, searching, waiting on a machine and rework. Moving parts and tools to within arm's reach often removes several seconds without changing the product or the equipment.

  3. 3

    Move work to stations with spare time

    Split the job into work elements and hand some to a neighbour who is under takt. This is line balancing. A Yamazumi chart makes it easy to see who has room.

  4. 4

    Change the method or the equipment

    A fixture, a second tool or a quicker changeover can shorten the cycle when waste removal and rebalancing are not enough.

  5. 5

    Add capacity at that station only

    A second person or a parallel station at the slow step halves its effective cycle time. It is cheaper than adding people along the whole line.

  6. 6

    Use overtime or stock as a stopgap

    Overtime and a buffer built on another shift keep the customer supplied while the real fix is made. Treat them as temporary and put an end date on them.

On the gearbox line, steps 2 and 3 are enough. Moving the parts rack next to station 3 removes 8 seconds of walking. Fitting the gasket moves from station 3 to station 1, which takes 12 seconds with it.

Illustrative: the gearbox line before and after rebalancing
StationBefore (s)After (s)What changed
15264Takes the 12 s gasket fit from station 3
26464No change
38565Gasket fit moved out (12 s), rack moved closer (8 s)
45858No change
56161No change
Total3203128 s of walking removed

Station cycle times before and after rebalancing (seconds)

Example numbers
  • Station 1: 52 seconds before, 64 after
  • Station 2: 64 seconds before, 64 after
  • Station 3: 85 seconds before, 65 after
  • Station 4: 58 seconds before, 58 after
  • Station 5: 61 seconds before, 61 after

Cycle time in seconds before and after rebalancing: station 1 from 52 to 64, station 2 stays at 64, station 3 from 85 to 65, station 4 stays at 58, station 5 stays at 61.

Grey ticks are before: 52, 64, 85, 58 and 61. Station 3 drops 20 seconds and station 1 takes 12 of them. Every column is now under the 70 second takt, and total work falls from 320 to 312 seconds.

Every station is now under 70 seconds. The slowest is station 3 at 65, which gives 25,200 / 65 = 387 gearboxes a day against a demand of 360. Nobody was added and nobody was asked to hurry.

Leave a margin, and recalculate when demand moves

A line never runs for every available second. If the gearbox line loses 10 percent of its day to small stops, it has 25,200 x 0.90 = 22,680 seconds of running time, and it needs a cycle of 22,680 / 360 = 63 seconds to ship 360 units. That faster target is often called the planned cycle time. The rebalanced line at 65 seconds meets takt on paper but not this target, so the team still has to find 2 seconds or cut the stops.

The Lean Lexicon's entry on the operator balance chart makes the same point from the operator's side: the aim is work for each operator that is very nearly equal to takt time but slightly less.

Takt is not fixed. When demand rises to 420 gearboxes a day, takt drops to 25,200 / 420 = 60 seconds, and four of the five rebalanced stations are over it again. When demand falls, takt gets longer and the line can run with fewer people. According to the Lean Lexicon, Toyota typically reviews takt for a process every month and makes a smaller adjustment every 10 days. Pick a review rhythm and keep to it, because a takt that changes daily gives nobody a stable target. Level the schedule with heijunka so that daily swings in orders do not reach the line.

Common mistakes

  • Treating takt as a speed target for people. Takt is a planning number. If a station cannot meet it, change the work, not the pace of the operator.
  • Taking breakdowns and scrap off the available time. That lengthens takt and hides the losses you most need to see.
  • Using the cycle time of the fastest operator on the best day. Time several cycles and use a figure a trained person can repeat all shift.
  • Comparing takt with the line average. One station over takt limits the whole line, however fast the others are.
  • Calculating takt once at launch and never again. Demand moves, and takt has to move with it.
  • Using takt where demand cannot be averaged, such as one-off jobs with no repeat work. A takt needs some repeatable unit of work to pace.

Tools and templates for takt time

AI Line Balancing

Balance a line to takt in LeanSuite

AI line balancing from video: film your line, get a Yamazumi chart against takt, and test rebalancing scenarios before you change anything.

See AI Line BalancingBest line balancing software

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FAQ

Questions about takt time

  1. Takt time is the available production time divided by customer demand. It is how often one finished unit must be completed to keep up with what customers need. A line with 420 minutes of working time and demand of 360 units a day has a takt time of 70 seconds.

  2. Take the scheduled shift time, subtract planned stops such as breaks and meetings, and divide what is left by the number of units customers need in the same period. For example, 480 minutes less 60 minutes of planned stops is 420 minutes, or 25,200 seconds. Divided by 360 units, that is 70 seconds a unit.

  3. Takt time = available production time / customer demand, with both covering the same period. Available time is the scheduled shift less planned stops. Demand is good units the customer needs from this line. The result is time per unit, usually in seconds.

  4. Add the demand for all the products the line makes in the period and divide the available time by that total. One line has one takt. Use a week or a month of demand divided by working days for a steadier daily figure than one day's orders.

  5. Whenever demand or available time changes enough to matter, and on a set rhythm so the target stays steady. According to the Lean Lexicon, Toyota typically reviews takt for a process every month and makes a smaller adjustment every 10 days. A takt that changes daily gives nobody a stable target.

  6. Takt time is calculated from customer demand and says how often a unit is needed. Cycle time is measured at the station and says how long one unit takes to make today. When cycle time is at or just under takt, the station keeps up. When it is above takt, the line falls behind.

  7. Takt time is the interval between finished units that demand requires. Lead time is how long one unit takes to pass through the whole process, including all the waiting between steps. A line can meet a 70 second takt and still have a lead time of several days if stock sits between stations.

  8. The station cannot make enough in the available time, so the line needs overtime, stock or late deliveries to cover the gap. Fix it in this order: check the measurement, remove waste at the slow station, move work to stations with spare time, change the method or equipment, add capacity at that station, and use overtime only as a stopgap.

  9. No. Planned stops such as meal breaks, rest breaks and team meetings come off the available time before you divide. Unplanned stops such as breakdowns stay in, because they are losses the line is expected to fix and not time the customer has agreed to give up.

  10. Not by working faster. Takt is set by customer demand and available time, so it only moves when one of them does. What you can improve is cycle time at each station, so the line meets takt: remove waste, rebalance work, change the method, then add capacity at the slow step.

  11. No. Takt is a German word, and the Lean Enterprise Institute's Lean Lexicon describes it as a precise interval of time, like a musical meter. It stands for nothing.

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