Throughput is the number of items that can be made or repaired within a given time, and is determined by the number of items that can pass through the limiting operation or "bottleneck" in a period of time. Widen the bottleneck and increase the throughput. Productivity increases when either more product is processed in the same amount of time, or when the same amount of product is processed in fewer hours.
Which operation is the bottleneck – and how to resolve it – isn't often obvious. We are familiar with a broad range of manufacturing and repair operations and can quickly analyze the situation to determine how to get more product through the bottleneck and thus through the entire process.
Invariably, once the limiting operation is resolved capacity will increase until reaching the next bottleneck or until managed at the constraint. Each limiting operation can be resolved in a cascade of improvements, resulting in steadily increasing capacity and productivity.
Once a process is balanced, throughput can be adjusted to meet variable demand, using a variety of means. A simple example is to increase throughput 25% by shifting from eight hour days to ten, and another 20% by working a Saturday, but other means exist.
Often the process can be designed so that throughput can be controlled by simply controlling the limiting operation. Again, predetermined operational rules can improve management ease.