Takt Time & Line Balancing.
The pace your line must produce to meet customer demand. Calculate Takt time, total cycle time, line efficiency, and required workstations to balance the line.
Total shift time minus breaks, lunch, and 5S
Required output rate from customer schedule
Sum of all manual + machine task times to make 1 unit
Cycle time of the slowest workstation (bottleneck)
How many stations on the line today
TAKT TIME
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seconds per unit — pace of customer demand
Bottleneck vs Takt
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Required stations (theoretical)
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Line efficiency
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Balance loss
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Max throughput / shift
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Cycle time per station
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Takt Time = Available Time / Demand
Required Stations = Total Work Content / Takt
Line Efficiency = Total Work Content / (Stations × Bottleneck CT)
Balance Loss = 1 − Line Efficiency
Required Stations = Total Work Content / Takt
Line Efficiency = Total Work Content / (Stations × Bottleneck CT)
Balance Loss = 1 − Line Efficiency
Takt Time
Takt time is the rate at which products must be completed to meet customer demand. It's the heartbeat of a production line — every workstation must be balanced to this beat.
Takt Formula
Takt = Available Production Time / Customer Demand
Worked Example
One 8-hour shift, 30 min for breaks → 450 min available. Daily demand 600 units.
- Takt = 450 × 60 / 600 = 45 sec/unit
- Every workstation must complete its work in 45 seconds or less, or the line falls behind.
Cycle Time vs Takt Time
- Cycle time < takt — Workstation has slack. Good — slight buffer for variation.
- Cycle time = takt — Perfect balance. Zero buffer; any disturbance causes delay.
- Cycle time > takt — Bottleneck. Add capacity, parallel workers, or split the operation.
Line Balancing
If you have 3 workstations with cycle times 50, 30, 40 sec and takt 45 sec, station 1 is the bottleneck. Options:
- Move 5 sec of work from station 1 to station 2 → 45, 35, 40
- Add a parallel station 1' to halve effective cycle time
- Reduce setup or wait time within station 1
Related Tools
Compare to actual Cycle Time. Track losses with OEE. Match production to Speeds & Feeds.