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The Importance of Takt Time in Manufacturing System Design

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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 1999-01-1635

The Importance of Takt Time in

Manufacturing System Design
Joachim Linck and David S. Cochran
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

International Automotive Manufacturing

Conference and Exposition
Detroit, Michigan
May 11-13, 1999

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The Importance of Takt Time in Manufacturing System Design
Copyright © 1999 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
ABSTRACT
Lean production has greatly influenced the way manufac-
turing systems should be designed. One important
aspect of lean production is takt time. Takt time relates
customer demand to available production time and is
used to pace the production. This paper applies the man-
ufacturing system design and deployment framework to
describe the impact of takt time on both the design and
the operation of a manufacturing system. The goal of this
paper is to illustrate the relevant relationships of takt time
to overall system design.
INTRODUCTION
Takt time is a conceptual part of lean production. Produc-
tion is paced by takt time. The purpose of this paper is to
explain the concept and use of takt time, and to explain
its relation to overall system design.
Takt time influences the manufacturing system design
through all levels of the design hierarchy, i.e., overall
plant layout, machine design specifications and work
loop design. In a linked cellular manufacturing environ-
ment, the cells operate according to takt time to ensure
continuous flow from cell to cell. Within the cells, machine
capacity is set to the cell’s operating takt time. The work-
loop of the operators is laid out so that the worker can fin-
ish the loop within the takt time. In the operational stage,
takt time is one parameter determining production
sequence.
This paper will use the production system design frame-
work to elaborate the relationship of takt time to overall
system design [Cochran, Lima, 1998]. We will show the
importance of takt time in achieving a balanced and lev-
eled manufacturing system and also discuss require-
ments for investment in equipment.
TAKT TIME
DEFINITION OF TAKT TIME – Takt time was originally
used for to design of the operator’s work content
[Monden, 1998]. The term “Takt Time” is derived from the
German word “Takt”, which refers to the rhythm and time
bar in a piece of music. In production it refers to the
speed at which products are produced.
1
1999-01-1635
Joachim Linck and David S. Cochran
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Takt time represents the average pace of sales over a
specific time period. It defines the time available to pro-
duce one part [Shingo, 1989]. It is the overall available
production time in a chosen time interval divided by the
overall forecasted customer demand for the time interval.
The definition is as follows:
Time Available
Takt Time ≡
Average Customer Demand per Time Period
Time Available = Total Time – (Maintenance Time + Time
Allowances)
CALCULATION OF TAKT TIME – The following steps are
necessary to calculate takt time:
1. Define the time interval, for which the takt time needs
to be calculated
2. Determine the available time per shift
3. Define the customer(s), whose demand needs to be
satisfied
4. Determine the demand forecast for the chosen time
interval
Ad 1) The time interval represents the period for which
we want to determine the takt time.
Ad 2) The available time is the total working time less
breaks and scheduled allowances. It can also include a
factor for changeover and downtimes. A common metric
of this is the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Ad 3) The definition of the customer(s) seems to be an
obvious and easy task. Unfortunately, this is not true. We
have to consider questions such as:
Who are the customers for a specific production line?
Who are the customers for the whole plant? Is it possible
to define the customer consistently throughout the plant
or do we have different customers for different pro-
cesses? Is it possible to produce parts for different cus-
tomers on the same line? If not, we should not consider
the demand of those customers in determining the line
takt time.
Let us consider the following example: a company pro-
duces a variety of axles for automobiles. The manufac-
turing process starts with the manufacture of pinions and
ring gears and finishes with the final assembly of a com-
Business Objectives / FR (What) Physical Implementation / DP (How)
plete axle. Some processes are fairly easy to change
over, in assembly, for example, whereas others, such as FR1
DP1
Lean
Maximize production
in ring gear and pinion manufacturing, usually take return on
investment
system design

longer.
FR11 FR12 DP11 DP12
Using the external customer to determine the takt time for Increase Minimize
FR13
Minimize Production of Target
DP13
Investment in
sales production production products production production
all processes within the company would lead to long revenue costs investment to maximize
customer
cost with a system
optimization
changeover times in the pinion and ring gear manufactur- satisfaction approach

ing. An alternative would be to use “demand per product FR111 FR112 DP111 DP112
Decrease Decrease Production Predictable
family” as the definition of customer demand. Therefore, mean variation of based on production
delivery the delivery actual output
each product family has its own production cell and each time time demand

production cell has its own takt time. (The impact of cus-
tomer definition on shop floor layout will be discussed in FR1111 FR1112 FR1113
Be responsive
DP1111 DP1112 DP1113
Reduced
Produce at the Produce the Balanced Level
the section on balancing.) customer
demand cycle
mix of each
part type
to the
downstream
production
system
production response time
across the
time (or demanded customer’s production
takt time) per time demand time system
Example: The takt time for the following month is to be interval interval

calculated. The month has 22 working days with 2 shifts

per day, 8 hours per shift. Breaks add up to 1 hour per
shift. The OEE is 95%. Expected customer demand is
20,000 parts. The takt time is:
(22 days * 2 shifts * 7 hours) * 0.95
∗ 3,600 sec/hour = 53 sec
20,000 parts
USE OF TAKT TIME – Takt time is a time measurable
used to pace the production system, to allocate
resources for the chosen time interval, and to level the
production sequence.
Takt time is not a productivity measurable. A shorter takt
time does not mean a more productive environment.
Increased productivity can mean either producing the
required parts in a shorter time using the freed up time to
produce something else, or to produce the same number
of parts with fewer resources.
RELATION OF TAKT TIME TO SYSTEM GOALS
Figure 1. High levels of the Production System Design
Decomposition
Takt time is used to decrease mean product delivery time
by achieving a balanced and leveled production system.
It also derives requirements for investment decisions. We
will discuss those aspects in more detail in the following
paragraphs.
BALANCED PRODUCTION – Balancing production
means that all operations and subsystems produce at the
same rate. Figure 2 illustrates balanced and unbalanced
production. If the system is unbalanced, work in progress
accumulates between operations, since the arrival and
service rates are not in sync.
Buffer 1 Buffer 2
T=0 OP1 OP2 OP3

There are two basic questions we want to discuss in the

following paragraphs: Unbalanced 10 7 5
part/hr part/hr part/hr
T = 1 hr
• What are the system goals which takt time helps to Rate1 ≠ Rate2 ≠ Rate3
achieve?
• How does the consideration of takt time influence the Balanced 5 5 5
design of production systems? T = 1 hr
part/hr part/hr part/hr

Rate1 = Rate2 = Rate3

We will use the production system design and deploy-
ment framework to answer the above questions. Figure 1
Figure 2. Illustration of balanced and unbalanced
shows the high levels of the production system design
production
decomposition, which is one element of the framework.
For a detailed explanation of the design decomposition
Figure 3 shows the steps to design a balanced system.
approach see [Suh, Cochran, Lima, 1998]. The decom-
The decomposition emphasizes the appropriate configu-
position relates system goals (functional requirements or
ration of subsystems to operate in a range of cycle times
FRs) to design solutions (design parameters or DP). The
(DP11111); the detailed design of subsystems including
highlighted boxes show where takt time has the strongest
the selection of processes and the design of work content
impact. We will only discuss the highlighted boxes in this
(DP11112); and the necessity of determining the takt
paper.

2
time needed to achieve a lean balanced production sys- Figure 4 illustrates two case studies in defining the cus-
tem (DP11113). Since the production system must meet tomer. In Scenario I, takt time is calculated based on the
customer demand, it must be balanced according to takt demand from each vehicle assembly customer. The
time. A system can be balanced to any other time than demand is not aggregated. The result is a takt time
takt time. However, this will lead to either underproduc- between 55 sec and 65 sec, which corresponds to the
tion or overproduction. pace of vehicle assembly. The upstream fabrication (or
machining) cells have a slightly shorter takt time to allow
for some variability (e.g. due to scheduled downtime) in
Business Objectives / FR (What) Physical Implementation / DP (How)
the output pace. Note that the customer is consistent
FR1111 DP1111
throughout the entire plant’s value stream. This plant
Produce at the Balanced
customer production design enables management directed across the product
demand cycle system
time (or takt
time)
line and focused on the customer. Scenario I has been
called the linked-cell manufacturing system, since each
FR11111
Define
FR11112
Design sub-
FR11113
Identify
DP11111
Configuration
DP11112
Cell or sub-
DP11113
Actual
cell or sub-system operates at takt time and is linked by
customers,
parts and
system
for a range of
demand
cycle time for a
of sub-systems
to enable flow
system
designed to
customer
demand cycle
true-demand (or pull) information [Black, 1990].
volumes for volume given time at the ideal meet the time or
each sub- fluctuations period range of cycle minimum takt time
system or cell
w/in production
times takt time In scenario II, the components plant accumulated the
demand of all customers. This lead to a takt time of 20
FR111121
Select
FR111122
Design
FR111123
Design
DP111121
Physics of the
DP111122
Mfg. Process
DP111123
Fixture design
sec and a departmental layout. The equipment is mostly
appropriate
manufacturing
manufacturing
process cycle
station
fixtures to
manufacturing
process
work content
defined to be
to provide
quick
specialized high speed machinery. The assembly line is a
process time at each enable less than the load/unload
station minimum minimum takt (within required transfer line with very limited volume flexibility. The opera-
to meet takt time time tolerance)
minimum
takt time
tors are dedicated to one machine due to short cycle
times. It becomes much more difficult to track parts in the
system and to focus on the customer.
Figure 3. Decomposition of balanced production
The determination of the customer directly influences the
The ideal range of takt time mentioned in DP11111 con- possible configuration of subsystems, since each sub-
siders demand fluctuations during the lifetime of a manu- system must be able to meet the minimum takt time.
facturing system. The subsystems must be able to
The decomposition of DP11112 in Figure 3 drives the
tolerate the fluctuations without having to be redesigned.
design decisions on the next lower level of the decompo-
Takt times can be as long as days. An aircraft manufac- sition. DP111121 and DP111122 require that the work
turer, for example, uses a takt time of 4 days [Chao, content of manufacturing processes must meet the mini-
Graves, 1997]. However, takt times shorter than 30 sec- mum takt time. This might require redesign of processes
onds tend to lead to high speed, specialized equipment and equipment.
and also tie operators to one machine or station. As a
The designers of the assembly cell shown in Figure 5
consequence, takt times less than 30 seconds will deter
subdivided the test and burnishing operations into five
the ability to design and implement volume-flexible cells,
and two stations respectively. Previously, the testing
since the workers are not able to perform multiple tasks
operation had an 85-sec cycle time with several
(see scenario II in Figure 4).
machines running in parallel.

Vehicle
If the processes cannot be broken down to meet mini-
Components Plant mum takt time, parallel processing is necessary. For
Assembly
example, if the takt time is 55 sec and the machining of a
Mach. Cell Assy. Cell Customer 1 pinion takes 150 sec, three hobbers are needed in paral-
TT = 60 sec TT = 65 sec TT = 65 sec lel. In general, parallel processing is not desirable,
Mach. Cell Assy. Cell Customer 2 because the multiple flow paths make it more difficult to
I TT = 55 sec TT = 60 sec TT = 60 sec detect the root cause of defects.
Mach. Cell Assy. Cell Customer 3

TT = 50 sec TT = 55 sec TT = 55 sec

Test operations divided in Subdivision of burnish operations
5 stations to meet Takt Time in order to meet Takt Time

Buffer Customer 1
TT = 65 sec
Overall 2nd 1st
Load 2nd 1st Air Final Valve
II Machining
Job Shop Layout
Assembly
Line
C1

C2
Customer 2
4 3
Test

2
Rot.
Torque
1 1 2
Oil
Leak
Oil
Leak
3
BurnishBurnish Leak

4 5 6 5 4 3 2
TT = 60 sec E D
A
TT = 20 sec TT = C3 Customer 3 C B
20 sec 1 F 2
TT = 55 sec 1 2 3 4 1 2 3

TT 20 secs Wash

Figure 4. Affect of customer definition to overall system

design opportunities. Figure 5. Assembly cell with subdivided test and
burnishing processes to meet Takt time
3
Once a manufacturing system is designed, it is subject to
changes in customer demand. The takt time must be
recalculated according to the new forecast. When opera-
tors are not tied to machines, changes in takt time result
in a re-configuration of the workforce within a cell to
achieve balanced production [Monden, 1998].
In summary, takt time is a parameter of production sys-
tem design. It drives the design of the configuration of
cells, subsystems, machines and stations. The selection
and definition of processes and the design of the work
content focus on meeting minimum takt time.
LEVEL PRODUCTION – Leveling keeps consumption
constant and levels the demand on upstream cells or pro-
cesses [Monden, 1998]. It also ensures that each pro-
cess or cell has the same sequence of production
[Shingo, 1989]. Leveling deals with two aspects: leveling
product mix and leveling cycle time mix.
1) Leveling product mix means producing each part type
required by the customer in a time interval equal to cus-
tomer demand. Figure 6 illustrates the unleveled and lev-
Note that leveling product mix is not influenced by cycle
time or takt time. Cycle times and takt times for the unlev-
eled and leveled illustration in Figure 6 are the same!
Leveling product mix does reduce throughput time, since
it avoids the build up of inventory.
2) Leveling cycle time mix: If a system is producing sev-
eral products with different cycle times, it is necessary to
level out the differences. Let us assume the production of
two products, A and B. The demand for each product is
the same. The time it takes to produce one part of each
product is 5 minutes and 3 minutes respectively (see Fig-
ure 7). If the schedule does not level out differences in
cycle times, the system is loosing its pace, WIP is build-
ing up between operations, and control of the production
state becomes more difficult. Monden provides algo-
rithms to achieve a leveled schedule both for product and
cycle time mix [Monden, 1998].
S e q u e n c e o f P a rts
C yc le T im e
U n le v e le d to T a kt T im e

eled product mix. The customer picks up 500 parts of 5 m in

product A, 250 parts of product B, and 500 parts of prod- T ak t T im e 4 m in

uct C every two hours. Thus, the leveled approach pro- 3 m in

duces exactly the demanded quantity of each product

type within two hours (lower illustration, Figure 6). C yc le T im e
L ev e le d to T a k t T im e

5 m in
Run Size
[units] Unleveled T ak t T im e 4 m in
P ro d u c t A
3 m in
P ro d u c t B
10,000

5,000 A C Figure 7. Cycle Time Leveling (Case 2 above)

B
Customer picks up
1 2 3 4 5 Time [days] every 2 hours: The decomposition of level production shown in Figure 8
Product A: 500 stresses that there are several requirements to achieve
5,000
Product B: 250 level production, e.g. quick changeovers (DP11121) must
Product C: 500
be realized before the production system can be leveled
1,000
Leveled to takt time.

500
A C A C A C A C .. Business Objectives / FR (What) Physical Implementation / DP (How)
B B B B

1 2 4 6 8 Time [hours] FR1112 DP1112

Produce the Level
mix of each production
part type
Figure 6. Leveling product mix to customer demand demanded per
time interval

pick up rate
FR11121 FR11122 FR11123 DP11121 DP11122 DP11123
Produce in Convey in Produce and Setup Standard Information
small run sizes small and supply only performed containers that system
The unleveled approach (upper illustration, Figure 6) pro- consistent the parts in less than hold small to produce
quantities needed 10 minutes amounts of only the
duces in run sizes of 10,000, 5,000, and 10,000 for prod- parts parts needed
(Pull system)

uct A, B, and C respectively (run size is defined as the

number of consecutive parts made of the same type FR111231 FR111232 FR111233 DP111231 DP111232 DP111233

before changing over to another type). The system is still Link production
to the customer
Level
customer
Control the
start of
Kanban arrival
from customers
Product mix
leveling
Kanban system
(start
demand mix demand mix production and (or customer’s based on production
able to satisfy customer demand. However, it is neces- per time
interval
to the supply of parts order) Takt time and supply
of parts)
manufacturing (e.g. Heijunka
sary to store the finished goods. Furthermore, the subsystem box)

response time of the system greatly decreased. Produc-

tion of product C does not begin until the third day, so the
system would not be able to react quickly to changes in Figure 8. Decomposition of level production
customer demand.

4
A tool, which greatly supports balancing and leveling is tion throughout the shop floor. The heijunka box is a tool
the heijunka box, which we will therefore discuss in the to communicate sequence on the shop floor and maintain
following paragraphs. production pace in the system.

Heijunka – Heijunka means “to level” in Japanese. INVESTMENT – The design of balanced production sys-
Heijunka is defined as "distributing the production of dif- tems defines requirements for the design of equipment
ferent [body types] evenly over the course of a day, a as discussed above. Investment decisions cannot be
week, and a month" in the assembly process [Toyota made independently from the system configuration. Ther-
Motor Corporation, 1992]. Heijunka uses takt time as an fore, DP13 in Figure 1 states that investment must be
input parameter for the planning process to achieve the done with a system optimization approach. The decom-
most efficient sequence and to maintain the workflow position of investment in the production system design
[Coleman et al., 1994]. Thus, heijunka is an extension of framework is shown in Figure 10. The decomposition
balancing and leveling. reveals that machine design must be focused on meeting
the minimum takt time with lowest cost and complexity
The heijunka box is the embodiment of takt time (bal-
(DP131). While machines have to be able to produce
anced production) and leveling (by mix, volume and cycle
faster than the minimum takt time, they do not have to be
time). It is a tool to visualize production sequence on the
much faster.
shop floor and to control the pace of the system. An
example for a heijunka box is shown in Figure 9. It con-
DP13
sists of slots representing time pitches. Each time pitch FR13
Reduce long-
Acquisition of
simple and
term
the production of one standard container is initialized. investment on
flexible
machines
machines and
The time pitch is a multiple of the takt time, and is related equipment
(min.takt-time
as a
to the standard container size: parameter)

Time Pitch = Takt Time * Lot Size FR131 FR132 FR133 DP131 DP132 DP133
Add production Ensure Ensure Machine Replication of Movable and
capacity in mfg. System flexibility to design linked cell flexible
The rows represent different products. Each time slot smaller quickly
accommodates
accommodate
future products
focused on manufacturing
system
machines to
enable
increments at meeting the
holds one withdrawal kanban card. The pace of the pro- lowest cost large & rapid
demand
minimum takt
time with
new cell
configuration
duction is controlled by removing the cards from the fluctuations lowest cost
and
heijunka box at stated times. Figure 9 illustrates an complexity

example of a heijunka box with a takt time of 4 minutes

and a lot size of one. Figure 10. Decomposition of investment

Manufacturing cells often consist of relatively simple

Time
Part Type 8:00 8:04 8:08 8:12 8:16 ..
A X X X ..
X X ..
B
Figure 9. Heijunka Box
The operator comes to the Heijunka box at the stated
times (e.g. 8:00, 8:04) and picks the corresponding work
order. She delivers the card to the downstream operation,
which signals a production start. If the downstream oper-
ation is falling behind the schedule, the operator of the
heijunka box can quickly identify it. The sequence must
be leveled according to takt time. Let us assume the
unleveled schedule in Figure 7. The operator of the
heijunka box picks a card every four minutes. However,
the downstream operation needs five minutes for each of
the first 6 parts. When the operator of the heijunka box
supplies the sixth card, the downstream operation has
just finished the fourth part. It therefore seems that the
downstream operation is behind the schedule even
though this is not true.
In summary, takt time is a parameter for the determina-
tion of the production sequence. The heijunka box is the
physical representation of balancing and leveling and
uses takt time to evenly distribute mixed model produc-
machines with long cycle times. The cell shown in Figure
5 includes a washer of approximately 4' width and 5'
depth. Washers for batch processing are often four to five
times larger in both dimensions and investment. While
the number of machines in the cellular approach
increases, the price per machine decreases. Studies
have shown that the total investment in equipment does
not differ very much between few specialized machines
and many simple machines [Cochran et al, 1998]. How-
ever, the flexibility increases, since smaller and simpler
machines are easier to relocate and reconfigure for differ-
ent product families (DP133). Furthermore, it is easier to
increase capacity in smaller increments (DP132).
CONCLUSION
We have discussed the use of takt time in lean manufac-
turing. Takt time is the time available to produce one part
and is used to pace the production system. It expresses
the principle of lean manufacturing to produce according
to the customer demand. Takt time must be considered
during the design of the system and during its operation.
Takt time is not a productivity measurable.
The Production System Design and Deployment Frame-
work relates system requirements to design solutions. It
clearly shows the high level system goals, which takt time

5
helps to achieve. These goals are to reduce mean deliv-
ery time by balancing and leveling the system, and drive
investment decisions.
The design of a balanced system determines the configu-
ration of cells or subsystems, the selection of processes
and the design of the work content. Balanced production
in turn affects the requirements for the equipment design
and thus greatly impacts investment decisions and influ-
ences the direction of the machine-tool industry.
Leveling is an operational task and aims to evenly load
the processes and to ensure the same sequence at each
process. Takt time is a parameter for the sequencing
algorithm.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Chassis Division of Visteon Automotive Systems
greatly supported this work. Special thanks to Professor
Cochran’s entire Production System Design Laboratory
group at MIT.
CONTACT
Joachim Linck (linck@mit.edu) is a Ph.D. candidate in the
Production System Design Laboratory at MIT. He
received a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from
RWTH Aachen in Germany. His research focus is on
information systems for lean manufacturing.
David Cochran is an Assistant Professor in the Depart-
ment of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He received a B.S. degree in
industrial engineering from Auburn University, a M.S.
degree in manufacturing systems engineering from
Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. degree in
industrial and systems engineering from Auburn Univer-
sity. His industrial experience includes five years in auto-
motive components manufacturing with Ford Motor
Company. His research focus is on the design of produc-
tion systems.
The Production System Design Laboratory's website is
located at http://me.mit.edu/groups/psd

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System Design Decomposition, Version 4.2, unpub-
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2. Monden, Y., 1998, Toyota Production System, 3rd
edition, Engineering and Management Press
3. Shingo, Shigeo, 1989, A Study of the Toyota Produc-
tion System from an Industrial Engineering View-
point, Productivity Press
4. Suh, N. P., Cochran, D. S., Lima, P.C., 1998, Manu-
facturing System Design, Annals of 48 th General
Assembly of CIRP, Vol. 47/2/1998, pp. 627-639.
5. Chao, J.S, Graves, S.C., 1997, Reducing Flow Time
in Aircraft Industry, MIT working paper
6. Black, J.T., 1991, The Design of a Factory with a
Future, McGraw Hill, Inc.
7. The Toyota Production System, 1992, International
Public Affairs Division and Operations Management
Consulting Division, Toyota City, Japan
8. Coleman, B.J., Vaghefi, M.R., 1994, Heijunka, A Key
to the Toyota Production System, Production &
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Fourth Quarter
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Unpublished MIT Case Study

6
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