Free tool
Takt time calculator
Takt time is the pace at which you must finish one unit to meet customer demand. It is available production time divided by customer demand for the same period, so 27,000 seconds and 900 units a day give a takt time of 30 seconds. Takt is the German word for beat or rhythm, and every station on the line is balanced against it.
Takt time formula
Takt timeequalsAvailable production time divided by Customer demand
Available production timeequals(Shift length − Planned breaks) × Shifts
Breaks, meetings, planned cleaning
Pre-filled with the worked example. Use the same period for time and demand: here, one day.
Takt time
30 s
One unit must be finished this often to meet demand.
Per unit, in minutes
0.5 min
Output needed
120 / hour
Available time
450 min
27,000 seconds a day
Prefer a spreadsheet? Download the Excel version: the free operator staffing calculator starts from takt time and works out total work content, the operators a line needs and a station plan check.
Next step
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How to calculate it
Takt time calculation, step by step
Available production time is the time the line is scheduled to run: shift length minus planned breaks, meetings and planned cleaning, times the number of shifts.
Customer demand is how many units customers need in that same period, from orders or the forecast.
Divide one by the other and you have the heartbeat of the line. Compare each station's cycle time with it: a station slower than takt is a bottleneck, and one much faster has spare capacity. The line balancing calculator takes it from there.
Takt time calculation example
Illustrative numbers, not a benchmarkOne 480-minute shift a day with 30 minutes of planned breaks, and customer demand of 900 units a day.
Step 1
Available time = 480 − 30 = 450 min × 60 = 27,000 s.Step 2
Takt time = 27,000 s ÷ 900 units = 30 s per unit.Step 3
Output needed = 3,600 s ÷ 30 s = 120 units an hour.
Takt time vs cycle time vs lead time
Three times, three questions. One line shows how they differ. It has a 30 second takt (the example above) and five stations.
| Time | Set by | On this line |
|---|---|---|
| Takt time | Customer demand and available time | 30 s per unit |
| Cycle time | The work at each station | 24, 30, 34, 28 and 29 s. The line is paced by the slowest: 34 s |
| Lead time | Work in process, including waiting | 300 min with 600 units in the line (Little's Law) |
Cycle time above takt means the line falls short. At 34 seconds a unit, the 27,000 available seconds make 794 units against a demand of 900: 106 short. Meeting demand takes 900 × 34 = 30,600 seconds, which is 3,600 seconds, or 60 minutes, of overtime a day.
Lead time is mostly waiting. The five stations add up to 145 seconds of work, but a unit spends 300 minutes (600 units ÷ 2 units a minute) in the line. Only 145 s ÷ 18,000 s, about 0.8%, is work on the unit. The rest is queues.
The numbers are illustrative. For one part worked through all three, see cycle time vs lead time, the takt, cycle and lead time poster and the lead time calculator.
What to do with the takt time
- Time every station. Record the cycle time of each step on the standard work sheet, then chart the times against takt as a Yamazumi chart.
- Find the stations above takt. Station C, at 34 seconds, is the bottleneck. If the work can be split that way, move 4 seconds of it to station A, which has 6 seconds of room.
- Work out the stations needed. Total work ÷ takt = 145 ÷ 30 = 4.83, so at least 5 stations. Line efficiency is 145 ÷ (5 × 30) = 96.7%.
- Show it at the line. Put takt, the hourly target of 120 units and actual output where operators and supervisors can see them.
- Recalculate when things change. New demand, a changed shift pattern or a new break schedule all move takt.
The line balancing calculator does steps 2 and 3 from your station times. The standard work sheet and combination table hold the times.
How takt time moves with demand and shifts
Same line, same 450 available minutes a shift (27,000 seconds). Only demand and shifts change.
| Shifts | Demand a day | Takt time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 700 | 27,000 ÷ 700 = 38.6 s |
| 1 | 900 | 27,000 ÷ 900 = 30 s |
| 1 | 1,200 | 27,000 ÷ 1,200 = 22.5 s |
| 2 | 900 | 54,000 ÷ 900 = 60 s |
| 2 | 1,800 | 54,000 ÷ 1,800 = 30 s |
Higher demand shortens takt and asks more of every station. A second shift does the opposite: with the same demand it doubles the time available per unit. For a line that builds several products, add up the demand of every variant that shares it, and level the mix with heijunka and a heijunka box.
Takt time calculation mistakes
- Using the full shift. 480 minutes ÷ 900 units gives 32 seconds instead of 30. A line paced at 32 seconds makes 843 units in the 27,000 seconds it really has: 57 short.
- Mixing periods. Seconds a day against units a week gives a number that means nothing. Use one period for both.
- Dividing by capacity, not demand. Takt is what customers need. What the line can make is the cycle time you compare it with.
- Rounding up. 38.57 seconds shown as 39 leaves the line about 1% short (38.57 ÷ 39 = 0.989). Round down.
- Using last year's demand. Take the current order book or forecast and recalculate when it changes.
- Treating takt as a stopwatch on people. It is the pace of finished units for the whole line. Balance the work and remove the losses, not push the operators.
- Planning to takt with no room for losses. Takt does not include breakdowns, changeovers or scrap. Plan the cycle time a little below takt, and use the OEE calculator to see the losses that eat the margin.
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<iframe src="https://www.theleansuite.com/tools/takt-time-calculator/embed" title="Takt time calculator by LeanSuite" width="100%" height="840" 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/takt-time-calculator">Takt 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 BalancingRead more
- Free template: Operator staffing calculator
- Takt time in the lean glossary
- The Three Elements of Standard Work: Takt Time, Work Sequence, Standard WIP
- Takt Time in JIT: Matching Production to Demand
- The Three Elements of Standard Work: Takt Time, Work Sequence, Standard WIP
- Cycle time vs lead time: one part worked through
- Takt, cycle and lead time poster
- Free template: Standard work sheet
- Free template: Standard work combination table
- Line balancing calculator
- Lead time calculator
- Takt time: the formula, a worked example and what to do when you cannot meet it
- How many operators does this line need?
FAQ
Takt time calculator: common questions
Takt is the German word for beat or rhythm. In lean manufacturing, takt time is the beat of the line: how often one finished unit must come off it for production to match customer demand.
Takt time = available production time ÷ customer demand. Available time is the shift length minus planned breaks, times the number of shifts, in the same unit as demand. 27,000 seconds ÷ 900 units = 30 seconds per unit.
Add up the available time of all the shifts and divide by the demand for the same day. Two shifts of 450 available minutes each give 54,000 seconds a day. At 1,800 units a day, takt time is 30 seconds. At the original 900 units a day it would be 60 seconds.
Takt time is how often a unit must be finished to meet demand. Cycle time is how long a station takes to do its work on one unit. Lead time is the total time from order or start of work to delivery, including waiting. In a line with a 30 second takt, the slowest station may take 34 seconds and a unit may spend hours in the system.
Use minutes for available time and divide by demand. 450 available minutes ÷ 900 units = 0.5 minutes per unit, which is the same as 30 seconds. Keep time and demand for the same period, such as one day.
No. Takt time is set by customer demand, so it is the rate you need. The production rate is what the line actually delivers, which depends on its slowest station and its losses. The gap between the two is the problem to work on.
If you round, round down, so the line is never planned slower than demand needs. A takt of 38.57 seconds can be run as 38 seconds. Rounding up to 39 seconds would leave the line about 1% short every day (38.57 ÷ 39 = 0.989 of demand).
Divide the available production time by customer demand for the same period. For example, 27,000 seconds of available time in a day and demand for 900 units a day give a takt time of 30 seconds per unit.
Takt time is the pace demand requires: how often one unit must be finished. Cycle time is how long a process step actually takes to complete one unit. If any station's cycle time is longer than takt, the line cannot keep up with demand without overtime or extra capacity.
Take out planned time when the line will not run, such as breaks, meetings and planned cleaning. Do not take out unplanned downtime: takt time is set by demand, and breakdowns are a loss to fix, not part of the plan.
Yes. Takt time moves with demand and available time, so recalculate it whenever the forecast or the shift pattern changes, and rebalance the work across stations to the new takt.
Divide the total work content for one unit by takt time and round up. For example, 270 seconds of work at a 60 second takt needs at least 5 stations. The line balancing calculator works this out from your station times.
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