Bottleneck (logistics)

Project management

In Project Management, a Bottleneck is one process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain. A related concept is critical path method (see Project Management) and the Theory of Constraints (see Industrial Engineering and Operations management). Two good examples of this would be a lack of smelter and refinery supply which cause bottlenecks upstream.

Assembly line

In a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Board Assembly Line with several equipments aligned, usually the common sense is driven to set up and shift the bottleneck element towards the end of the process, inducing the better and faster machines to always keep the PCB supply flowing up, never allowing the slower one's full stop, a fact that would be heeded as a deleterious and significant overall drawback on the process.

Engineering

In engineering, bottleneck is a phenomenon where the performance or capacity of an entire system is limited by a single component. The component is sometimes called a bottleneck point. The term is metaphorically derived from the bottleneck of a bottle, where the flow speed of the liquid is limited by its neck.

Explanation of the Metaphor

The term bottleneck is taken from the 'assets are water' metaphor. As water is poured out of a bottle, the rate of outflow is limited by the width of the conduit of exit - that is, bottleneck. Increase the width of the bottleneck, and you can increase the rate of which the water flows out. Pertaining to a business, a firm will address the 'bottleneck' that is limiting production.

ee also

* Performance engineering
* Performance analysis
* Optimization (computer science)