Business process guide
Business Process Bottleneck Analysis
A bottleneck is the effective constraint on the process. It can be a person, system, rule, approval, data dependency or simply a queue created by uneven demand.
Practical note: process design depends on organization, data, controls, laws, contracts and technology. Treat examples and calculators as educational planning aids, then validate changes against your own requirements.
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Look at queues and utilization together
A growing queue in front of a consistently busy resource is strong evidence of a constraint.
Distinguish chronic from temporary
A seasonal surge, system outage or one large case can create a short queue without representing the long-term constraint.
Improve the constraint first
Protect its capacity, reduce unnecessary work reaching it, simplify its tasks or move suitable decisions elsewhere before adding capacity across the whole process.