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What is the difference between cycle time and takt time?
Cycle time is how long it actually takes to complete one unit at a process step. Takt time is the pace customer demand requires: available production time divided by customer demand. If cycle time exceeds takt time, you cannot meet demand at that rate.
Example: 450 available minutes and demand of 225 units gives a takt time of 2 minutes per unit. A step with a 2.5 minute cycle time becomes a bottleneck.
It matters because it shows where capacity is short relative to demand, not just where a machine is slow.
Commonly misread:
- Treating takt time as a machine speed rather than a demand-driven target.
- Using a nominal shift length without deducting breaks and planned stops.
- Measuring cycle time from a few best-case observations.
Recalculate takt whenever demand or working hours change.
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