Takt maturity model: From individual successes towards systemic change in Finland

Abstract

Interest in takt production has grown globally amongst lean practitioners within the last decade. In Finland, several successful takt implementation cases within the last five years have radically increased the interest in leveraging takted production systems. However, the discussion on how to transform the first success stories of takt production to the systemic improvement of productivity has remained scarce. This study aimed to conceptualize the requirements for systemically implementing takt production within projects and organizations in the form of a maturity level model. The study was conducted as an explorative, qualitative multiple case study. Through synthesizing the learnings of 24 takt implementation cases in Finland, we propose fifteen requirements for effectively implementing takt production, structured in the form of three maturity levels: i) technical takt planning, ii) social integration & takt control, and iii) continuous improvement. The study has implications for the industry players and researchers to develop an understanding of where they are now and where they should focus next to improve their takt production processes to achieve a systemic change. For further research and development, the proposed model should be validated by testing the model with the industry players.