What is takt time and how to calculate it in your company?7 min read

Summary:

• Takt time helps to calculate how long certain processes should take. Have you ever felt your team could be more productive, reducing the length of the tasks? So that’s useful for you!
• It’s a simple calculation, but it can totally change your company’s routine. Learn what takt time is and how to use it wisely;
• Audaces systems bring more agility to the production of your fashion collections. Get the free trial of the Audaces360 multi-solution now and see how!

Have you ever noticed that sometimes your team puts more effort than necessary into doing some activity? Or have you already realized that the results could be better if your employees had more time to focus?

We all know tasks need to be done at the right time. They cannot be too fast, not to cause unnecessary accumulation, nor too slow, not to disturb the production line.

When flowing at the right speed, your production can perform better, in line with other processes involved. And some procedures can be such a helping hand to orchestrate this ideal (and valuable) timing.

By knowing the definition and all that a good takt time can do for your business, you can apply this method and reap great rewards.

Want to understand how it works and how to calculate it?

Read on, and we will show you everything!

What is takt time?

It’s a term that derives from the word “taktzeit ” in German, where “takt” means “rhythm” and “zeit” means “time”.

Takt time is a concept used to synchronize the pace of production with the pace of sales. That is, it represents the time in which a product must be developed, based on the pace of sales to better meet demands.

This tool started gaining popularity in Japan when Toyota applied it within its Toyota Production System (TPS), before implementing its famous Lean Principles.

Learn more: Find out how – and why – to apply textile automation in your company

What is the importance of takt time?

The importance of takt time shows off when it helps to make production leaner and way more efficient.

Takt time helps anyone who wants an indicator that aligns production flows with accuracy and product demand.

By analyzing the takt time, you can find out the time available for production, generating greater control of the tasks and being able to focus on what really matters: the need for improvements.

The purpose of takt time is synchronization. This is because the pace of production and sales must be at the same speed. This way, it reduces losses, producing more with fewer resources.

By using takt time, it is possible to produce according to the necessary schedule, without interruptions in the process. That is, it makes the machines work through systems that work according to demand.

In order to produce with more quality, all areas in the company need organization.

Therefore, they must have:

• Fast responses to the problems
• Quick tool exchanges
• Planned machine stops
• Good software to define the quantity and ensure quality in the processes

Thus, it’s possible to produce in smaller quantities, but increasing manufacturing flexibility. By precisely aligning production to demand, the process gains its ideal pace. That’s what takt time is all about.

Learn more: How does technology in fashion impact the textile industry?

How to calculate takt time?

The calculation is very simple, for there is a defined formula to apply this tool in companies.

It goes like this:

Takt Time = Available Production Time (per shift) / Rate of Customer Demand (per shift)

To calculate it, you just need to take the Available Production Time and divide it by the Rate of Customer Demand. Once this is done, you can find out how many hours, minutes, or even seconds it takes to develop a product.

Takt time calculation example

A shift of approximately 9 hours has 540 minutes. However, for you to calculate the production time, it is necessary to remove the stop times, such as snacks and lunch. Thus, in this case, 540 minutes become 456 minutes of production.

Considering that you need to produce 10,000 pieces per month, you must find out how many units are produced per day before calculating your takt time.

Since your shift is daily, you need to divide these 10,000 pieces by 20, which is the number of working days. So, you find that 500 pieces are supposed to be produced daily.

Now, just apply the formula below:

Takt time = 456 (minutes per shift) / 500 (pieces per shift) = 0.912 minute/piece x 60 = 54.72

By dividing the minutes worked by the number of parts to be produced per day/shift, the result is the number of minutes per unit.

Here, as an example, we used the 456 minutes per day and divide by 500 pieces.
This division reached 0.912 minutes per unit.

When multiplying by 60, which is the number of seconds per minute, we will have 54.72 as a result. This number means that every 55 seconds or so a piece must be ready. Otherwise, production may be delayed, causing dissatisfaction on the part of the customer.

What is the difference between takt time, cycle time, and lead time?

Unbalanced production lines, lack of communication between sectors, delays, rework and machine unplanned stops. All of this happens due to inefficient time management. And when we speak of this work system, we are also talking about a production chain, in which there are 3 classes of time:

1. Takt time: which means the pace of production;
2. Cycle time: the time of each stage of production;
3. Lead time: refers to the total production time.

Production line time, as we know it today, was named like that during Toyota’s development management system in the 1950s, through lean manufacturing.

This management aimed to increase productivity, reduce waste, and apply continuous improvements.

So, for your production not to have inventory accumulation and idle labor, it is necessary that takt time, cycle time and lead time are balanced.

With that, you get an appropriate production line, at the right pace and time, without delays or drops during production – mainly caused by mechanical failures or low quality of services.

Learn more: Lean manufacturing: knowing the principles and making the most of them

How do Audaces technologies optimize your company’s takt time?

Technology is an enormous ally for production processes. Through machines and software, professionals from clothing and textile companies are able to produce much more, and with better quality.

Audaces is a world reference when it comes to technological innovation in the fashion industry and offers solutions that upgrade your production’s takt time.

Audaces360

Audaces360 takes your business to the next level, providing integration and automation for the fashion production chain.

Our complete multi-solution boosts all the processes from the creative phase to the development of spec sheets, passing through cost forecasts and pattern creation.

With it, your fashion collections will be developed and managed in a faster and more optimized way!

All professions in the fashion industry find in Audaces360 the ideal solution to overcome market challenges.

Conclusion

Takt time is an important metric that helps the production processes, showing all that is necessary to meet customer demands without wasting time and raw materials.

To achieve the improvements your clothing manufacturing needs, count on automation and agile practices.

This way, you can have more autonomy for your work, leading the team along the best path and bringing the most modern in the fashion segment.

Want to become the next to see the transformation Audaces’ technologies can bring to your business, saving resources and time?

Check out the free e-book below and see one of the common problems we can help you eliminate:

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