Map the process and units
Establish whether stages are serial or parallel and record processing time and resource count. Minutes per unit and units per hour are different quantities.
OpenStax describes mapping production flows to identify possible bottlenecks. The following original exercise assumes a serial process without downtime, rework or random arrivals.
Worked three-stage capacity
In a fictional line, preparation takes 2 minutes per unit, testing 5 and packing 3, with one station at each stage. Capacities are 30, 12 and 20 units per hour respectively.
The ideal steady-state line capacity is 12 units per hour, limited by testing. Adding stage capacities does not give line capacity. Time for the first item to finish is also different from the sustained output rate.
Recalculate after an improvement
Add an identical testing station that can operate in parallel. Testing capacity becomes 24 units per hour, so packing at 20 units per hour becomes the new line constraint.
Check whether demand reaches 20 per hour and whether workers or materials are shared between stages. Adding equipment at a non-constraining stage may not increase final throughput.
State limitations and test understanding
With stable demand of 10 units per hour, the original testing stage would carry a load of 10/12, approximately 83.3%. State this utilisation convention and distinguish available capacity from actual output.
Change one processing time and explain whether the bottleneck moves. Bring your reasoning to a tutorial. This simplified model cannot directly predict real queues and must not replace independent assessed work.
References
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