Bottleneck and Line-Balancing Checks

The bottleneck is the step whose sustainable capacity constrains the whole flow. Compare observed station cycle time with takt using comparable product, unit, and time boundaries.

Practical workflow

1. Measure work content and losses at each station.
2. Identify the recurring longest effective cycle, not a single unusual event.
3. Test work redistribution, recovery time, quality risk, and ergonomics before changing the standard.

A station at 132 seconds against 120-second takt creates a 12-second gap; investigate the actual cause before allocating people or equipment.

Open the line-balancing calculator · View takt vs cycle diagram