Throughput calculator.How much must the system finish each week?
Calculate the throughput needed to sustain your current work in progress at a target cycle time, using Little’s Law.
Describe the current flow
Use averages from the same recent period so the units describe one stable system.
To carry 10 cards while finishing each in about 10 working days, the system must complete 5 cards a week.
throughput = WIP ÷ cycle timeConverted to a 5-day working weekThroughput is an observed rate, not a target disguised as a promise
Little’s Law connects average work in progress, average cycle time, and average throughput in a stable system. If ten cards stay in progress and each takes ten working days, a five-day week requires five cards to finish each week.
How to use the answer
Compare the required rate with the last six to eight weeks of completed work. If the required rate is higher than the team has demonstrated, either reduce WIP, accept a longer cycle time, or change the system. Adding a more ambitious target does not create capacity.
Common questions
What is Little’s Law?
For any stable process, average work in progress equals throughput multiplied by average cycle time. It holds regardless of what the work is, as long as the measurements cover the same period and use the same units.
The WIP limit and cycle time calculators are rearrangements of that identity.
Do I count blocked and waiting cards as work in progress?
Yes. Anything that has been started and is not yet done is in progress from the customer’s point of view, and it is the waiting time that inflates cycle time. Counting only cards someone is actively typing on gives a flattering but wrong answer.
How many weeks of data do I need?
Six to eight weeks is a reasonable minimum for an average. Fewer and a single good or bad week dominates. If the team or the way work is sliced changed recently, start counting from the change.
Where do I get throughput from Kanera?
The Work Done view lists completed cards by date for a board or a whole workspace. Table view can group by completion week and export the counts to Excel.
Measure throughput
from completed work.
Kanera keeps completed-card history by board and workspace, so the rate comes from real delivery rather than estimates.
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