A bottleneck is an element or factor that reduces or affects the production process of a company. In industries, these can have a significant impact in productivity, as they limit company growth and prevent their evolution. To prevent them, it is important to know how to identify their main causes and take corrective actions.

There are 2 main types of bottlenecks: short-term bottlenecks and long-term bottlenecks. The first are temporary causes and do not pose a significant risk to production. For example, when a skilled worker takes a couple of days off, the process is slowed down but there is no significant setback. On the other hand, long-term bottlenecks happen all the time and can be accumulate considerably, reducing production. This is the case of a machine that has technical problems or is not efficient enough.

Normally all systems have bottlenecks. However, it is essential to detect in time the factor that is affecting production. But how can we identify them?

Bottlenecks can be identified through the following actions:
– Identifying the areas where the accumulation occurs.
– Evaluating the throughput.
– Assessing whether each machine is being used at full capacity.
– Finding the machine with the high wait time.

Once the bottleneck has been found, we must assess the type of severity and impact (short- or long-term). If it is a short-term bottleneck, we can give it a low priority. If it is a long-term bottleneck, we must address it immediately. Usually, bottlenecks are generated in places, processes, or machines, but this is not always the case.
Here are some ways to find or assess bottlenecks:

Accumulation: When input is faster than the speed of the process, accumulation starts to occur. This method is not effective when the queues are at several stages of the chain, as there are multiple processes with retention.

Throughput: Since the production line is related to the output of the machines, it allows to identify the main bottleneck in the manufacturing process.

Full Capacity: By using the utilization percentage of each production unit, it is possible to determine the machine that uses the highest capacity. This machine is blocking the others by ‘forcing’ them to operate at a lower capacity. However, if all the machines in the chain of processes run at a similar capacity level, increasing the capacity of the lowest machine will not cause a considerable improvement.

Wait Times: If there are several production units running at full capacity, tracking their down time will allow you to identify the machine that is being blocked. Usually, the machine prior to that with the highest wait or down time in the chain of processes is a bottleneck.

At Migtra we know the importance of detecting these issues. That is why we invite you to discover our solutions Migtra Productivity and Migtra ETA (estimated time of arrival), for preventive management and an improvement in bottlenecks: contact us at info@migtra.com