Process bottlenecks

To be effective at improving the efficiency of a process focus on the process bottlenecks. Every process has at least one bottleneck activity. The first thought should be, “can we eliminate this activity?”.

The bottleneck constrains the overall output of a process. It makes all resources wait for it to complete. Identifying it can be done by monitoring the average cycle times of each activity.

Some ways to improve a bottleneck:

  • Eliminate it.
  • Add resources to it.
  • Optimize it.

A common mistake for anyone starting their own business is to do everything themselves. This of course limits what their company can do. They become the bottleneck of their organization.

The solution is systems thinking.
