Multi-Train Takt Planning: How Trains of Trades Flow Through a Phase

What Is a Phase in Takt Planning?

Here is how I break a typical job into phases, each one start to finish:

• The overall site make-ready
• The foundations
• The superstructure
• The exterior
• The interiors
• The site work

A phase is a start-to-finish geographical location with its own unique zones. Phases are not durations of time.

That means you are not going to have the same zoning on your structure as you will on your exterior. Those are two different phases with two different sets of zones. You are also not going to have the same trades flowing through those two phases. The trades that flow through your structure are not the ones that will be installing your exterior components.

So it is not everybody on the job following one Takt time. We break the project down into phases first.

What Is a Train of Trades?

Inside a phase, you have trains of trades. A train of trades is a sequence of trades going the same speed and the same distance apart within the train. Notice I said within the train, not within the phase.

That train flows through the phase on its own rhythm, and other trains of trades can flow through that same space too.

Two Trains in One Phase on Commercial Interiors

Here is a clear example, and it happens on commercial interiors all the time. The finish trades will be a separate train. They are more variable, and they have more of what we call zone transitions. That train of finish trades will sometimes even go at a different pace as it flows through.

So you have two trains in one phase. On interiors, you can actually have as many trains as you need.

What I do not recommend is having every individual trade going its own speed. On a typical interiors phase, my trains look like this:

1. The rough-in train of trades goes through first.
2. The finishes train of trades follows.
3. Punch list goes through at a faster pace. You should have very little punch list in the Takt Production System.

A Multifamily Example With Four to Five Trains

Here is another easy example. In multifamily, the structure is a lot of times separate, but framing is usually part of the interiors phase. In that interiors phase, you might see these trains:

1. Framing goes up with the plumbing.
2. If the team decides to build top down, you will have another train for your Gypcrete.
3. The main train of trades then flows down through the building.
4. A very fast train follows for your meter banks, final clean and closeout, labeling of the rooms, and maybe flooring.

That is at least four to five trains going through the interior sequence. In my experience, that is how Takt works best in the United States.

Takt Means Rhythm

Some people push back on this. They tell me you have to have one Takt plan with one Takt time. I disagree. Takt is more about the flow of trades than it is about Takt time. Takt time is only one component.

Takt is an older German word for rhythm. We could have called it flow planning or rhythm planning.

So whether you force one Takt time within a phase or run a couple of different trains of trades through it, they usually finish at about the same time. Here is a secret, though. In my experience, the multi-train Takt planning method often finishes sooner. It is also more adaptable, and Americans understand it better.

Why Multi-Train Planning Is Still Takt

Multi-train planning is still Takt because every train of trades is still flowing. From there, the work comes down to three things:

1. Bring the trains closer together.
2. Make sure each train magnetizes as many independent activities as it can.
3. Manage the intersections between trains so that everybody can flow.

That’s it. That is how simple it is.

You also do not have to have rhythmic work to do Takt. The key is to identify your phases, get the right zoning through the calculator, and then run as many trains of trades through each phase as you need. As long as each train has rhythm, you are good to go.

What Are the Four Things You Never Do in Takt?

These are some of the biggest misconceptions in the industry:

1. Never force a five-day Takt time.
2. Never use the weekends as the Takt time drumbeat.
3. Never use Saturdays as a buffer day. For how buffers should actually work, see my guide on how buffers work in Takt planning.
4. Never use a one-to-one setup for Takt wagons. Mechanical will typically have multiple wagons, and finishes will naturally and consensually have multiple activities within a wagon.

What Goes Wrong With One Five-Day Takt Time

If you teach that everything has to be one Takt time, that it has to be a five-day Takt time, and that the weekends are your Takt time drumbeat, you will get into some pretty big problems.

First, you will waste a lot of time. Usually your Takt time is four, three, two, or one day, or even a portion of a day.

Second, using the weekends overburdens and hurts people. That is the opposite of respect for people.

Third, if you have a delay, try getting back on rhythm when you are using five-day Takt times between the weekends. It just does not work. You have to keep your Takt times smaller and let them land wherever they fit inside the week.

Fourth, a Takt plan with one five-day Takt time between the weekends, laid out at a high level using wagons, is still a push schedule. Once you get into a delay, you will start pushing trades to work Saturdays. You will start pushing trades to make up time. You will keep pushing and pushing. I have written before about the truth about overtime, and this is exactly how it creeps in.

Here is how you should see it instead. A phase has your trains of trades flowing on a rhythm. The Takt time hits wherever it needs to inside the week, not on the weekends. Everybody is flowing, the plan can absorb the impact of a day, you just move the Takt times, and you do not even worry about the weekends.

How Do Toyota and BMW Run Multiple Lines?

Multi-train Takt planning is superior, and it surprises me that people get stuck on single-train Takt planning. It is not how it works, and it is not how Toyota does it.

In Toyota’s manufacturing plants and at BMW, wherever they use in-line manufacturing, they run multiple lines, even when they are building one type of car or one type of component. Construction is the same. One phase can and should have multiple trains.

For the details, see our books Takt Planning and Takt Steering & Control. Pull Planning for Builders shows how to package it all together. For a guided walkthrough, see the Takt Production System Masterclass.

So here is the challenge. Pull up your current Takt plan. If it forces one five-day Takt time across the whole job or leans on Saturdays, break the project into phases, give each phase its own zones, group your trades into trains, and let each train flow on its own rhythm.

Bottom line: Identify your phases, zone them right, and run as many trains of trades as you need, because as long as each train has rhythm, you are still doing Takt.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Want your team trained on this? See our Last Planner® System and Takt training.

On we go.

FAQ

What is multi-train Takt planning?

It breaks a project into phases and runs one or more trains of trades through each phase, so the whole job does not have to share one Takt time.

What is a train of trades in Takt planning?

A train of trades is a sequence of trades going the same speed and the same distance apart within that train. Several trains, such as rough-in, finishes, and punch list, can flow through the same phase.

Does Jason Schroeder recommend a five-day Takt time?

No. I never force a five-day Takt time, because most Takt times are four, three, two, or one day, or a portion of a day.

Can you use Saturdays as a buffer in Takt?

No. Using Saturdays or weekends as a buffer or a drumbeat overburdens people and turns the plan back into a push schedule. Keep your Takt times inside the week instead.

Is multi-train Takt planning still real Takt?

Yes. Takt means rhythm, and every train of trades still flows on a rhythm.

People Also Read:
The Takt Production System
How Buffers Work in Takt Planning
The Integrated Production Control System