There was an interesting search in my logs today. [does a system have a single takt time or multiple] I always figure that if one person is looking, others are also curious, so let’s address it and maybe there will be a better search result for the next Googlenaut out there. Takt time is local. [...]
Now and again someone wonders out loud why, in this lexicon of Japanese terms, we have the word “takt.” I had always passed along what I had heard – that the word was German, short for taktzeit and used in their factories to represent the pace of production. During WWII, the Germans had helped the [...]
Now and then something comes across that makes it all worth it. And nothing is more “worth it” to me than to know something I said or did contributed to someone’s insight or impetus to do something spectacular. Yesterday Earl sent me an email that is one of those times. I was going to edit [...]
Following on from the buzz created by the last couple of posts, I would like to go back in time a bit. In 2005 Steven Spear wrote a working paper called “ Why General Motors Lost and Toyota Won.” A reader can clearly the see emerging themes that were developed into his book Chasing the [...]
One question I see coming up a lot in various forums is how to deal with issues unique to very long takt times. By “very long” I usually hear about many hours, sometimes days, occasionally weeks. Because it comes up fairly often, I thought I would take a shot at addressing it here. I think [...]
Yesterday I told you the plan for today. Here is what really happened. We got the even pitch going for a while. I was at the front of the line releasing units down the line as the pre-build Team Member was done with them. I was watching distance (since distance = time on a moving [...]
A few days ago I wrote about asking “What is your takt time?” and the likely responses to that question. But in my list of common responses, I left one out – “What’s the point? We get everything out by the time the truck leaves.” Here’s a real-life example: In a high-volume consumer goods factory [...]
If you are the “lean manufacturing expert” you probably know. But what answer do you get if you ask the question in the work area? Here is a quick diagnostic for you: Go to the shop floor and ask a supervisor, “What is your takt time?” A reply of “Huh?” is pretty self-explanatory. Either the [...]