Introduction
In Germany, Takt is likened to the baton which an orchestra conductor uses in order to regulate the tempo of his choir’s musical rendition. You might ask, “How does music relate to production processes?” Excellent question! Takt time draws inspiration from how the baton coordinates the singers and how it determines the rate at which they produce music. Let’s go deeper.
What is Takt Time in Production?
Takt time represents the maximum amount of time allotted for the production of a particular product in order to meet the customer’s demand. Here’s a simple illustration to help break it down.
Let’s say you are a local shoe manufacturer and a client approaches you, requesting that a dozen shoes be delivered within 3 days. If you work for 8 hours daily, your takt time should be 2 hours.
(8x3 =24 hours)/12 Shoes = 2 hours
Hence, if you are going to meet your customer’s demand, you must complete one shoe in 2 hours. Simple enough, right?
Hence, the simple mathematical formula shown below is taken as gospel.
Takt time = Available production time/ Customer demand
What is the Importance of Takt Time?
Takt time is particularly essential to organizations which practice lean manufacturing and it is important in ensuring that companies meet their customer’s demand as at when due. Here are some of the reasons why companies emphasize the need to work with takt time.
The knowledge of Takt time helps organizations to achieve a consistent and continuous flow of production. In addition to this, it guards against superfluous production, i.e. you are able to avoid wastage.
Talking about wastage, apart from preventing wastage of materials or the final products, takt time helps achieve efficiency with the employees and the machines being employed. Now, there’s no need to work extra shifts or use machines above their working capacity.
When an organization uses the takt approach properly, they are able to ensure uniformity and synchronization across board. This then helps them identify roadblocks and blind spots such as capacity issues, quality control challenges, and lack of synergy.
Implementing Takt Time
This is by no means, a small feat, however, it is totally worth it. Here are a few steps to guide you.
Start with measuring the individual cycle time of each project. To get a clearer picture, you can classify the work done into value-adding and non-value-adding.
Eliminate the non-value-adding time. (Time for coffee breaks, meeting, lunch, etc.)
Calculate your ideal demand- what is expected daily? Weekly? Monthly?
Calculate the takt time using the formula given above.
Compare your cycle time against the takt time using a bar chart.
Initiate a value stream mapping where you can provide takt time per activity.
Conclusion
Not only it is an organized and efficient way of running production operations, it is one of the best methods by which you can be on-time in delivery. If you have further questions on takt time and how your organization can adopt this strategy, you can ask a Fusion Operations expert to contact you here.