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Bottleneck Management in Supply Chain Management

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Eliminating Bottlenecks in the Supply Chain
Bottlenecks occur everywhere in manufacturing companies; they happen in production, distribution, fulfillment and other functions within a supply chain. A bottleneck in a process occurs when input comes in faster than the next step can use it to create output. Bottlenecks can be caused by inadequate equipment and production where capacity has been topped out; because of inefficient processes where throughput has been maxed; and because of poor productivity where labor is not used efficiently.

Operationally, usually the asset, machine or resource that takes the longest amount of time is recognized as the bottleneck. Therefore, in a supply chain, a bottleneck governs its throughput, efficiency, productivity and profitability.

Capacity constraints affect a company's ability to grow and cause profits to decline. Apparel manufacturers that have a capacity bottleneck will find everyone's production and efficiency reduced to the speed of throughput at the bottleneck. The operation will slow to the lowest common denominator — the productivity at the slowest part of the process. Identifying and then fixing bottlenecks is clearly very important as a first step to improved overall operational efficiency.

Gain visibility & analyze data to find bottlenecks
What is needed is visibility into the supply chain to determine where bottlenecks occur. Gaining visibility into the equipment, processes and products that comprise a manufacturer's operations requires capturing data from end to end. From the supply chain and inventory management all the way through the manufacturing process and continuing into distribution and fulfillment, increased productivity and throughput can be mined from the information that's available. The abundance of data generated throughout the enterprise can be used to improve facility, labor and equipment

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