Pitch

The amount of time needed in a production area to make one container of products.

The formula for pitch is:

takt time x pack-out quantity = pitch

For example, if takt time (available production time per day divided by customer demand per day) is one minute and the pack-out quantity is 20, then: 1 minute x 20 pieces = pitch of 20 minutes

Pitch, in conjunction with the use of a heijunka box and material handling based on paced withdrawal, helps set the takt image and pace of a facility or process.

Note that the term pitch also is sometimes used to indicate the span or time of a person’s job.