<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>For TOC (Theory of Constraints) implementation in a production system, the determination of the system's bottleneck is a crucial step. Effective bottleneck identification allows setting priorities for the improvement of a production system. The article deals with a significant problem for the manufacturing industry related to the location of a bottleneck. The article aims for a detailed analysis of methods for bottleneck identification based on a comprehensive literature review and the design of a generalised methodology for bottleneck identification in the production system. The article uses two research methods, first, the combination of a narrative and scoping literature review, and second, the logical design. Several methods for bottleneck identification are reviewed and compared, finding some being similar, and others giving new insights into the evaluated production system. A methodology for bottleneck identification is proposed. It contains several detailed methods arranged in coherent steps, which are suggested to be followed when aiming for the recognition of a production system's bottleneck. The proposed methodology is expected to be helpful in the practical TOC implementation. The presented methodology for the identification of bottlenecks in a production system is a practical tool for managers and experts dealing with TOC. However, it is still a conceptual proposal that needs to be tested empirically. The proposed methodology for bottleneck identification is an original concept based on the current literature output. It contributes to the production management theory as a practical managerial tool.</p></abstract>

For TOC (Theory of Constraints) implementation in a production system, the determination of the system's bottleneck is a crucial step. Effective bottleneck identification allows setting priorities for the improvement of a production system. The article deals with a significant problem for the manufacturing industry related to the location of a bottleneck. The article aims for a detailed analysis of methods for bottleneck identification based on a comprehensive literature review and the design of a generalised methodology for bottleneck identification in the production system. The article uses two research methods, first, the combination of a narrative and scoping literature review, and second, the logical design. Several methods for bottleneck identification are reviewed and compared, finding some being similar, and others giving new insights into the evaluated production system. A methodology for bottleneck identification is proposed. It contains several detailed methods arranged in coherent steps, which are suggested to be followed when aiming for the recognition of a production system's bottleneck. The proposed methodology is expected to be helpful in the practical TOC implementation. The presented methodology for the identification of bottlenecks in a production system is a practical tool for managers and experts dealing with TOC. However, it is still a conceptual proposal that needs to be tested empirically. The proposed methodology for bottleneck identification is an original concept based on the current literature output. It contributes to the production management theory as a practical managerial tool.

Methodology for bottleneck identification in a production system when implementing TOC

Engineering Management in Production and Services

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

For TOC (Theory of Constraints) implementation in a production system, the determination of the system's bottleneck is a crucial step. Effective bottleneck...

Name	Approach	Reference
Longest Queue	length of a queue analysis or a measurement of the waiting time of machines	Lawrence and Buss (1994)
Longest Waiting Time	rate of utilisation of machines measurement	Law and Kelton (2000)
Utilisation	rate of utilisation of machines measurement	Hopp and Spearman (2000)
Average Active Period/Active Period	measurement of the machine activity continuously	Roser et al. (2001/2002)
Process Time	material flow time in process measurement	Delpf et al. (2003)
Queue Time/Average Waiting Time	the waiting time before the process measurement	Faget et al. (2005)
Inactive Period	inactive time of machine measurement	Sengupta et al. (2008)
Turning Point	observation of blocking and waiting of processes	Li et al. (2009)
Bottleneck Walk	observation of processes and the level of inter-process resources	Roser et al. (2014)
Flow Constraint Analysis	takt time and the resource cycle time comparison	Sims and Wan (2017)
C/T Corrected	cycle time and the degree of utilisation of each process measurement	Urban (2019)

Methodology for bottleneck identification in a production system when implementing TOC

Publicado en línea: 23 jul 2020

Páginas: 74 - 82

Recibido: 30 ene 2020

Aceptado: 10 jun 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2020-0012

Palabras clave
Theory of Constraints, TOC, production improvement, bottleneck identification, constraints

© 2020 Wieslaw Urban et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Bottleneck identification methods

Methodology for bottleneck identification in a production system when implementing TOC

Publicado en línea: 23 jul 2020

Páginas: 74 - 82

Recibido: 30 ene 2020

Aceptado: 10 jun 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2020-0012

Palabras claveTheory of Constraints, TOC, production improvement, bottleneck identification, constraints

© 2020 Wieslaw Urban et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Bottleneck identification methods

Palabras clave
Theory of Constraints, TOC, production improvement, bottleneck identification, constraints