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Takt time calculator
Takt time is the pace of customer demand: how often one unit must be finished to ship on time.
How it is calculated
Using takt time
- Balance the line to takt. Stack each operator's work in a bar chart against the takt line; anything above it is the bottleneck.
- Plan at slightly under takt. Many plants plan cycle times a little below takt so small losses do not cause missed shipments.
- Recalculate when demand changes. Takt follows the customer, so it moves with the order book.
Read more: Takt time for Green Belts · Value stream mapping · Theory of constraints · The 8 lean wastes
FAQ
What is the difference between takt time and cycle time?
Takt time is the pace the customer demands: available time divided by demand. Cycle time is how long the process actually takes per unit. If cycle time is longer than takt time, you cannot keep up without overtime, another shift or a faster process.
What counts as available time?
Scheduled working time minus planned breaks, meetings and planned maintenance. Do not subtract breakdowns or changeovers: those are losses the process has to absorb, not time the customer gives you.
How do I calculate the number of operators?
Total manual work content per unit divided by takt time, rounded up. A result of 6.2 means 7 operators, or a chance to remove 0.2 of an operator's worth of work through kaizen.
Is takt time the same as lead time?
No. Lead time is how long one unit takes to go through the whole process, including waiting. Takt time is a rate. A process can meet takt and still have a long lead time if there is a lot of inventory between steps.
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