Lean Kanban Nordic presentation: Business people as bottlenecks
In a manufacturing process, a bottleneck is any step whose capacity is less than the demand placed upon it. From an organizational perspective, bottlenecks are both physical and non-physical: systems, equipment, processes, policies and …people.
Bottlenecks limit a system’s output/outcome. They lead to queues, waiting times, lost opportunities, etc. In one word: waste. They should be removed.
While we should always look at the system before blaming people, sometimes bottlenecks are indeed people, business people in particular. Should we just remove them :) or can we find other ways to address this issue?
I took a look at how Kanban may help us identify and deal with it. Hint: it is not (just) a matter of capacity.
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