Tag: Oxford and Cambridge boat race

Takt is a German word meaning beat or rate.

We can see this in action; in the annual Oxford and Cambridge boat race or the Olympic rowing Eights.

The cox calls the stroke, or beat, which co-ordinates the power and the rhythm of the rowers. To win you need to get the rhythm or pace right throughout the different stages of the race.

In manufacturing we co-ordinate the rhythm or pace at which we produce parts using takt time. It is defined as:

“The rate at which you need to produce products in order to satisfy customer demand.”

Why do we use takt time?

To “win” in manufacturing we need to make exactly what the customer wants, when they want it. This is the first principal when creating a lean manufacturing system.

If we make less, the customer is not happy.

If we make more, then we are over producing and create inventory. These are wastes and cost us money.

Takt time helps us to make the quantity required by the customer at just the right time to keep inventory to a minimum.

How do we set takt time?

We can work out what our takt time needs to be by using two key pieces of information and this formula.

 

 

The customer always sets the demand. The manufacturer sets the amount of time available. It is equal to the total available time minus planned downtime. See the worked example.

In high volume manufacturing plants, like car assembly plants, takt time is usually expressed in seconds. Longer units of time are used if the processes are particularly lengthy, like assembling an aircraft wing.

Tip: Don’t confuse takt time with cycle time or throughput time.

What if cycle time is greater than takt time?

You’ve worked out your takt time is 20 seconds, however it takes 80 seconds to make the whole part. There are 2 options.

1. Have a number of identical stations producing the same part. In this case you would need 4 to meet customer demand (=80/20).
2. Split the manufacturing down into a series of smaller stages. Carry each stage out on a different station before passing it on to the next. The total time for the work at each stage can be no longer than your takt time.

Think of it in terms of the rowing. The race takes more than 1 stroke of the oars to complete. But each individual stroke, at the required beat, moves the boat closer to the finish line. Each of your manufacturing stations is equivalent to one stroke of the oars.

You can visualise the part moving from station to station until it reaches finished goods by clicking on the image below.

 

Tip: Find a way to let people know if they are working to takt time. If we are left to our own devices it is very easy to either, go faster and overproduce, or too slowly and miss delivery.

If you don’t have a fixed speed production line, where the part automatically moves out of your work zone, then investigate a visual method to indicate your actual output versus the target output.

For more information on how to calculate takt time for your plant and use it as part of your unique lean system contact the Industry Forum team today.