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Heijunka box planner (production leveling)
A heijunka box is a scheduling board for production leveling: each row is one product, each column is one pitch interval, and each slot holds the kanban for one container, so the line makes a steady mix of products all day instead of long runs of one. Pitch is takt time × pack-out quantity: the time to make one container. This planner turns weekly demand into containers a day, works out takt, pitch and the slots in a day, spreads the products evenly across the slots and checks that the run time plus every changeover the sequence needs fits in the available time, with EPEI (every product every interval) as the result. Page 1 is the blank planner and box. Page 2 has the formulas, the sequence rule and a worked example. The Excel version does the arithmetic, handles rounding to whole containers, builds the sequence by a stated rule and fills the box grid.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a heijunka box planner
- When a line or cell makes several products and builds them in long runs, so the stores swing between too much and too little.
- When setting up a pull system, to release work to the pacemaker in even steps of one pitch.
- To see whether changeover times allow a shorter repeat pattern, before running a SMED project.
- When demand changes, to reset the pitch, the slots and the sequence.
How to fill it in
- 1
Set the time and the pack
Working days, shifts, minutes per shift and breaks give the available time a day. Write the pack-out quantity: the pieces in one container, which is what one kanban stands for.
- 2
Turn weekly demand into containers a day
Divide each product's weekly demand by the pack and round up to whole containers, then spread them over the days. When they do not divide evenly, some days get one more: plan the box for the busier day.
- 3
Work out takt, pitch and slots
Takt = available time ÷ daily demand. Pitch = takt × pack. Slots a day = available time ÷ pitch, rounded down. If containers a day are more than slots, round the pitch down to an interval the material handler can keep.
- 4
Spread the products across the slots
For each slot in turn, give it to the product furthest behind its even share. With demand of 15, 10 and 5 containers a day the pattern is A B A C B A, repeated five times.
- 5
Check the changeovers fit
Count the changeovers the sequence needs, multiply by the changeover time and compare with the time left after the run time. If they do not fit, group slots, cut changeover time or accept a longer EPEI.
- 6
Load the box and run it
Put one kanban per container in its slot before the shift. Every pitch the material handler takes the next column to the line; a card left behind its time shows the line is late.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: valve bodies V-10, V-20 and V-30 in packs of 15 (illustrative numbers).
- Weekly demand 1,125, 750 and 375: 75, 50 and 25 containers a week, so 15, 10 and 5 a day over 5 days. 450 pieces a day.
- Two shifts of 480 minutes with 30 minutes of breaks: 900 minutes a day. Takt = 900 × 60 ÷ 450 = 120 s. Pitch = 120 s × 15 = 30 min. Slots = 900 ÷ 30 = 30 a day, 15 a shift, all used.
- Sequence by the rule: A B A C B A, five times a day. That is 5 changeovers per pattern, 25 a day.
- Changeovers take 6 minutes: 25 × 6 = 150 minutes. Run time = 450 × 96 s = 720 minutes, leaving 180 minutes, so the pattern fits with 30 minutes to spare. EPEI = 900 ÷ 5 = 180 minutes.
Every product comes round at least every 3 hours, so the store needs about 3 hours of V-30 rather than a whole batch run. The 30 spare minutes are the room for a shorter pattern once changeovers get quicker.
Common mistakes
Using the calculated pitch when the containers do not fit
Rounding containers up can need one more slot than the pitch allows. Round the pitch down to an interval people can keep, rather than dropping a container.
Leveling the mix without checking changeovers
A pattern that changes product every slot looks level on paper and loses the day to changeovers. Do the check before you load the box.
Mixing pack sizes in one box
A container twice the size takes twice the time, so its kanban fills two slots. Use one pack-out quantity per box where you can.
Letting the box fill from orders instead of the plan
Kanban added on the day for a rush order bring back the swings the box was meant to smooth. Reset the plan when demand changes instead.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite a takt line sits over every Yamazumi chart and recalculates when demand or the shift pattern changes, and multi-product lines are balanced by the real demand mix, with each station's combined load shown.
In the lean glossary
Free tools
Guides
- Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing: What It Is and How It Works
- Pull Systems in Lean Manufacturing: How They Work and Why
- Supermarket Pull Systems in Lean Manufacturing
- The Best Strategies to Reduce Changeover Time in Manufacturing
- The Three Elements of Standard Work: Takt Time, Work Sequence, Standard WIP
FAQ
Heijunka box planner (production leveling): common questions
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.