A bottleneck is the step in a work process that has the least capacity.
This holds true for any form of production, including manufacturing a
physical product or processing paperwork in an office. The capacity of a
bottleneck defines the capacity of the entire work process since work
cannot flow through the system any faster than it passes through the
bottleneck. A bottleneck that has a serious impact on overall
productivity can occur in any organization, but is especially common in
rapidly growing firms. That is because work flow and the necessary
procedural changes are increasing and can easily outstrip the capacity
of a particular operation within the work process.
Instructions
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1
Create a flowchart that
identifies the entry point where the process begins, each intervening
step in the sequence performed and the exit point. For example, a
wholesaler might end up with a flowchart starting when a customer places
an order. Some required steps might include verifying payment,
preparing a shipping order, transmitting it to the warehouse and packing
the order. The exit point would occur when the order is picked up by a
shipping company.
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2
Measure the capacity of each
step in the work process. One approach is to measure the throughput
rate. Throughput rate is the number of units that flow past a given
point in the work process in a period of time. For example, a packing
operation might have a throughput rate of 30 orders per hour.
Alternatively, you can measure cycle time, which is the average amount
of time that elapses between units in each step. Throughput rate and
cycle time are inversely related, so the cycle time is two minutes when
the throughput rate is 30 units per hour.
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3
Identify the bottleneck. The
bottleneck is the step with the lowest throughput rate. Conversely, the
step with the largest cycle time is the bottleneck.
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4
Examine the bottleneck step to
identify the reason for the low capacity. Finding the reason for a
bottleneck helps you develop solutions to increase capacity and
therefore improve your overall operation. One possible problem is a lack
of sufficient tools, machinery or labor. In some cases, the work tasks
may be organized inefficiently or require unnecessary actions. You may
find that moving part of the work in a step elsewhere will relieve the
bottleneck.
