How To Calculate Takt Time And Cycle Time

How to Calculate Takt Time and Cycle Time in Construction

This blog will show you how to calculate Takt Time and Cycle Time in construction. This is going to be very helpful for you because three years ago I did not know what these two terms meant, and once I learned them, it changed my life.

Takt Time tells us the rhythm of the project, and Cycle Time tells us the performance of the crew. If the Cycle Time doesn’t fit inside the Takt Time, we can’t run the work in flow. But if the Cycle Time does fit inside the Takt Time, we can.

Let’s start with the Takt Time formula. Normally you would have heard something like:

Takt Time = Available Time / Customer Demand

That’s the traditional definition. But in construction, here’s how we calculate it:

(Takt Wagons + Takt Zones – 1) × Takt Time = Phase Duration

Let’s go over an example. Let’s say you’re in general conditions, and your general conditions last for the entire phase. So, let’s say you have 2 Takt Zones, and you have 2 Takt Wagons meaning 2 scopes or 2 trades that are working within those Takt Zones. And let’s say each of those Takt Zones are 10,000 square feet. So, it’s a fairly big area.

And let’s say that you plan to run at a 5-day Takt Time. Then what you would do is plug those into the formula:

(2 + 2 – 1) × 5 = 15 days

So, this phase would last 15 working days.

Let’s go over another example. Let’s say instead of 2 Takt Zones of 10,000 square feet, you had 4 Takt Zones of 5,000 square feet. And that allowed you to shorten your Takt Time from 5 days to 2.5 days, because now you’re working with a smaller zone size.

So, in the formula:

(2 + 4 – 1) × 2.5 = 12.5 days

So even though you still have 2 crews (or 2 scopes or 2 Takt Wagons), you were able to increase your zone count, and that allowed you to shorten your Takt Time. That shortened your total phase duration from 15 days to 12.5 days.

So that’s how you calculate the Takt Time. You’re not forcing the crews to go faster. You’re allowing them to work at a natural pace, but still shorten the schedule.

Now let’s talk about Cycle Time. If you’re a field engineer, a project engineer, or a superintendent, and you want to calculate the Cycle Time of your crews, all you have to do is ask: “How long does it take this crew to get from the start to the finish of a zone?”

Let’s say, for instance, they take:

• 1 day to prepare.
• 2 days to install.
• Half a day is lost to variation or they had a bad day.
• And then half a day to close it out.

That would be 4 total working days. That’s their Cycle Time.

If your Takt Time was 5 days, and they’re working at 4 days, we’re good. If your Takt Time was 3 days, and they’re working at 4 days, we’re not good.

Here’s the key: if your Takt Time fits the Cycle Time, you’re in good shape. If it doesn’t, your crews won’t finish on time and they’ll start stacking.

Takt Time is for planners.
Cycle Time is for doers.

Takt Time is like the scoreboard or the yard markers in a football game. Without it, nobody knows what’s going on. When you add it, you can measure. You can plan. You can predict. You can manage capacity. You can improve.

When you measure Cycle Time and your crews improve it, you can shorten the Takt Time.

This allows us to build at a faster pace with the same crew, but again, not forcing them to go faster, just refining the system.

That’s how you calculate Takt Time and Cycle Time in construction.

Key Takeaway:

Understanding and calculating Takt Time and Cycle Time is essential for creating flow in construction. Takt Time sets the rhythm of the project, while Cycle Time measures crew performance. When Cycle Time fits within Takt Time, work can flow smoothly, improving predictability, efficiency, and project outcomes without forcing crews to rush.