Operations
Something in the process is the constraint. Find the bottleneck, because improving anything else changes nothing.
No practice cases of this type yet.
Output below target
- Find the bottleneck
- Map every step
- Output per hour at each step
- Why it holds things up
- Capacity
- Quality: rework and defects
- Scheduling and idle time
Output below target
Find the bottleneck
Map every step
Output per hour at each step
Why it holds things up
Capacity
Quality: rework and defects
Scheduling and idle time
Watch out: Speeding up any step except the bottleneck changes nothing.
On a case
A passport office clears 300 applications a day against 500 booked.
300 of 500 a day
- Find the bottleneck
- Token and document check
- Photo and biometrics
- Officer verification
- Why it holds things up
- Two biometric counters for five desks
300 of 500 a day
Find the bottleneck
Token and document check
Photo and biometrics
Officer verification
Why it holds things up
Two biometric counters for five desks
Go deeper
How it is lost
Numbers Without Benchmarks
Instead: A figure means nothing alone. Compare it against history, competitors, or industry norms before calling it good or bad.
Ignored Industry Context
Instead: Ask whether the problem is company-specific or industry-wide. If competitors face it too, the cause is external and the response is different.