Takt time calculator
Enter the available time, the demand and the measured cycle time of your process: it tells you the pace you need and whether your process meets it.
Takt time
0.80 min/unit
Measured cycle time
0.90 min/unit
The cycle is LONGER than the takt: you will not meet the demand. You need to reduce the cycle time (improve the method, the layout, add a shift) or add capacity (more machines, more people).
How it works
You enter the available time, the customer demand and the cycle time you measure in your process.
- Takt time = available time ÷ demand: the pace at which a piece has to come out to satisfy the customer.
- It is compared with the measured cycle time, what the process actually takes:
- if the cycle is longer than the takt, the demand is not met;
- if it is shorter, there is pace to spare (and you must take care not to overproduce);
- if they are within 2% of each other, it is considered balanced.
The 2% margin is a tolerance of this site so as not to compare decimal numbers for exact equality. Use the same unit of time for the available time and the cycle, and subtract planned stoppages from the available time.
If you prefer to work in Excel, there is a takt time and capacity per workstation spreadsheet in Excel with these same calculations.
Sources
These are the ones from the article where the theory behind this tool is developed.
What is the difference between takt time and cycle time, and is there a case with a real cell? It is in the article Takt time vs. cycle time.