"Takt" is the German word for musical meter, which came into Japan in the 1930s when the Japanese were learning aircraft production from German aerospace engineers.

Takt time is the tool to link production to the customer by matching the pace of production to the pace of actual final sales. First, you calculate actual takt times for each product and part. Then you use the time required for each product and part to determine the time that should be allotted to each actual process in the entire production chain.

Simply, Takt Time is the rate of customer demand. How often the customer requires one finished item. Takt time is used to design assembly and pacemaker processes, to assess production conditions, to calculate pitch, to develop containers and routes for material handling, to determine problem-response requirements, and so on. Takt is the heartbeat of a lean system.