What is the difference between cycle time and takt time?

Cycle time is how long a station actually takes to finish one unit, measured on the floor. Takt time is how often a unit must be finished to meet customer demand: available time divided by demand. Cycle time is what the line does; takt time is what the customer needs.

How do you measure cycle time?

Time a run of consecutive units at the station, from the start of one unit to the start of the next, and use the time that repeats most often rather than the fastest. Record stoppages separately: a breakdown is downtime, not part of the cycle.

What happens when cycle time is longer than takt time?

The line cannot meet demand in the time available. The options are to take work off the slowest station and rebalance the line, add run time with overtime or another shift, or add people or equipment at the bottleneck.

Is cycle time the same as lead time?

No. Cycle time is the time for one unit at one station. Lead time is the total time a unit spends in the process from start to finish, including waiting between steps, and is usually much longer.

Should cycle time equal takt time exactly?

A cycle time a little under takt leaves room for small stops and variation. A cycle time far under takt means people and machines wait, or the line makes more than customers need, which is overproduction.

Which cycle time should I enter for a whole line?

The cycle time of the slowest station, the bottleneck. The line cannot finish units faster than its slowest station, so that station sets units per hour and capacity.

Free tool

Cycle time calculator

Cycle time is how long one unit takes at a station, measured on the floor. Compare it with takt time, the pace customer demand sets: when the slowest station's cycle time is longer than takt, the line cannot meet demand in the time it has.

Takt timeequalsAvailable time per day divided by Customer demand per day

Units per hourequals3,600 divided by Cycle time (seconds)

Capacity per shiftequals(Shift length − Breaks) × 60 divided by Cycle time (seconds)

Gap to demandequalsCapacity per day − Customer demand per day

Use the cycle time of the slowest station, the bottleneck: it sets the pace of the whole line. Shift length and breaks are in minutes; capacity is rounded down to whole units.

Cycle time

Observed at the slowest station, the bottleneck

Shift length

Planned breaks per shift

Breaks, meetings, planned cleaning

Shifts per day

Customer demand per day

Pre-filled with the worked example. Time and demand cover the same period: one day.

Cycle time as a share of takt

111.1%

40 s cycle against a 36 s takt: 4 s over per unit, so the line cannot keep up with demand.

Units per hour

While running

Capacity per shift

675 units

After breaks

Capacity per day

1,350 units

Demand: 1,500

Shortfall

150 units

10.0% of daily demand

To meet demand at this cycle time the line needs about 100 more minutes of run time a day, or the cycle time has to come down to 36 s.

How to calculate it

Measure the bottleneck, compare with demand

Cycle time is measured at the station: time a run of units and take the time that repeats. For a line, use the slowest station, since it limits everything downstream.

Shift length, breaks, shifts and demand give takt time, the same way the takt time calculator does. A cycle time under takt keeps up with demand; over takt, the line falls behind every unit.

If one station is over takt while others wait, moving work between stations can fix it without adding people. The line balancing calculator shows each station against takt.

Worked example

Illustrative numbers, not a benchmark

The slowest station on a line takes 40 seconds a unit. The line runs two 480-minute shifts a day with 30 minutes of breaks each, and customers need 1,500 units a day.

1Available time = (480 − 30) × 2 = 900 min = 54,000 s. Takt time = 54,000 ÷ 1,500 = 36 s.
2Cycle time as a share of takt = 40 ÷ 36 = 111.1%: 4 s over per unit.
3Units per hour = 3,600 ÷ 40 = 90. Capacity per shift = 450 × 60 ÷ 40 = 675 units; per day, 1,350.
4Gap to demand = 1,350 − 1,500 = −150 units a day, 10% of demand.

The line is 150 units a day short. Making them at a 40-second cycle takes 150 × 40 = 6,000 s, 100 more minutes of run time a day, or the bottleneck has to come down to 36 seconds.

Embed this calculator

Teaching this, or writing about it? Paste this code into your site, course page or intranet and the calculator works right there. It is free, with no sign-up.

<iframe src="https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/cycle-time-calculator/embed" title="Cycle time calculator by LeanSuite" width="100%" height="1170" style="border:0;max-width:1000px" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif"><a href="https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/cycle-time-calculator">Cycle time calculator</a> by LeanSuite</p>

How LeanSuite helps

Drop in a video of your line and LeanSuite's Line Balancing produces a Yamazumi chart, a takt comparison and rebalancing recommendations.

See Line Balancing

FAQ

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