One of the useful concepts to master in Lean Manufacturing is the concept of Takt Time.
Simply, the Takt time of a process is the maximum amount of time needed to produce a unit of a product to meet a customer demand. I like to think of the takt time of a manufacturing process as being like the "heart beat" of the line; it's the pulse that demolishes your production plans and whacks out those units of product.
When I think of a "heart beat" a number of ideas pop into my mind - I wonder about the effect of an irregular heart beat on you or I, or perhaps a heart beat that's too slow or too fast, or maybe a heart beat that's been slowed down for a few days to cope with a change in the weather, or because it's Tuesday today....no really! The great thing is that whilst this sounds like a strange thing to say about a human, we often experience it when we look at machines.
If your heart beat was erratic what would you want? I would be at my local casualty limply yet forcefully asking for an ECG pronto! Yet when we visit some factories quite often people have no idea at all that their factory heart beat, their takt times, are all over the place.
We want to help you monitor the heart beat on your production line to ensure that it's always fit and healthy. We can even help you set up alarms if the heart beat falls out of parameters to ensure that you always get the best from your machines and meet your targets.
Simply install an XL800 on your produciton line for a free trial to see a real time display of your current Takt time.
Best practice tip:
Popular takt-time related KPI's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takt_time