Bottleneck

In the Theory of Constraints from Goldratt, production processes are seen as constraints.Each process is either a bottleneck (constraint where flow < demand), or a non-bottleneck. either a bottleneck's or non-bottleneck. Bottleneck insights:

• Bottleneck flow should be equal to market demand. Use bottlenecks at 100%. No idle time.
• Bottleneck throughput equals plant throughput. An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost to the whole system. An hour saved at a non-bottleneck is irrelevant.
• Cost of bottleneck is the cost of the entire plant divided by number of bottleneck hours available.

To increase bottleneck throughput: • Keep machine continuously manned. New lunch rules. Extra workers. Immediate maintenance. • Put quality-control checks in front of machine to prevent working on rework items. • Reduce load on bottleneck. Activate older machines to augment bottleneck machine.

Source: http://www.2ndbn5thmar.com/lean/Notes%20on%20The%20Goal.pdf (copied

here