Bottlenecks in a Process

Bottlenecks in a Process

Jeff Smith

OPS/TM571

August 7, 2011

David Gobeli

Bottlenecks in a Process

Bottlenecks appear in every organization and generate a reduction in output. Without realizing or identifying bottlenecks, companies may never realize their full production potential. Regarding the solved problem at the end of Chapter 18, management has deemed adding one more unit of resource to X as important to expand output, Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints will be applied to analyze the impact on each of the production lines as well as identifying any bottlenecks.

According to Eli Goldratt, a bottleneck can be defined as “any resource whose capacity is less than the demand placed upon it.” Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano (2006). According to the information regarding the solved problem at the end of chapter 18, process C is the weakest link in the chain of production because resource Y has the longest production time on a resource at five minutes p/unit. Process B has the second longest production time on a resource at four minutes p/unit, and process A has the quickest production time delaying the process by only two minutes p/unit.

Unfortunately the constraints have already been identified and although adding one more unit of resource to X will double output, the same constraints remain a hindrance. Although the impact of adding one more unit of X to production increases output twofold for each production line, A, B, and C, the company should focus their efforts on decreasing the longest process time in each line that would essentially increase output and create a more efficient production line. Simply adding one more unit of resource, whether to X or Y, is not the solution for increased production, decreasing production process time for each product would be.

In production, knowing what a constraint, or bottleneck, is half of the battle. The other half is improving the process itself. Since, “the goal of a firm is to...