What is Bottleneck?
A point in a process where the flow of work is restricted or slowed, limiting the overall throughput of the system.
Detailed Explanation
A bottleneck is the constraint that determines the maximum capacity of an entire process. Just as the narrowest point of a bottle restricts the flow of liquid, a process bottleneck limits the rate at which work can be completed. Bottlenecks can be caused by insufficient capacity, slow approval steps, a single overloaded team member, outdated equipment, or poorly designed handoffs. Identifying and addressing bottlenecks is one of the highest-leverage improvements a business can make, as the bottleneck sets the pace for everything downstream.
Why It Matters
Improving any part of a process other than the bottleneck provides zero increase in overall output. Businesses that focus their improvement efforts on the true constraint see immediate, measurable gains in throughput, delivery speed, and revenue capacity.
Example
A print shop discovers that while they can design jobs quickly and their printers have spare capacity, all jobs wait for a single finishing machine operated by one person. By cross-training a second operator and staggering shifts, they double their weekly output.
Related Terms
The rate at which a system or process produces output over a given period of time.
The total elapsed time from the start of a process or task to its completion.
The process of determining the production capacity needed to meet current and future demand for products or services.
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