A point of congestion in a manufacturing process that reduces its overall capacity.
In manufacturing, a bottleneck is the stage in the process that limits the performance or capacity of the entire production system. Identifying bottlenecks is critical for optimizing efficiency, reducing downtime, and improving throughput in production lines. Understanding bottlenecks helps in balancing workloads and scheduling maintenance to minimize their impact.
An assembly line processing 50 units/hour is restricted by a packaging machine with a rate of 40 units/hour.
This occurs frequently in automated manufacturing facilities where integrated systems rely on synchronous operation.
A steel production rolling mill operating at 1000 tons/year is limited by a cooling section allowing only 950 tons/year.
Commonly seen in large-scale commodity manufacturing involving continuous production processes.