Focus on the Bottleneck

Don't waste your time optimizing non-constraints. Improvements made anywhere other than the bottleneck are a waste of effort.

Any improvement made anywhere besides the bottleneck is an illusion.

• Identify the constraint with data, not debate.
• Increase throughput at the constraint before optimizing anything else. Verify with data.
• If the bottleneck moves, and it will, repeat the process as necessary.