ABSTRACT
Unlike manufacturing, where production is set based on a projected schedule, in healthcare, this involves carefully quantifying the rate, variation, and patterns of arrivals. Because of the complex nature of the very specialized service industry in which we work, these patterns often must be studied seasonally, monthly, daily, and even hourly. Once these arrival patterns are clearly characterized, we can then use this information to estimate the amount of time we have to perform each operation in order to meet the pace of arrivals, a concept called takt time.
