Choosing bottleneck software

Busy is not the same as limiting output

In this fictional process, each order goes through all three steps. The numbers are how many orders each step could handle in a day, using the same working-day assumptions.

1. Prepare

   60orders/day

2. Check

   30orders/day

   Limits the whole process

3. Pack

   45orders/day

Checking caps the estimated output at 30 orders a day, even if preparation gets faster. Raising checking capacity to 40 would lift estimated output to 40, if demand is at least 40 and nothing else changes. This is a capacity estimate, not a delivery-time promise.

Choose the smallest tool that answers your question

A spreadsheet

Useful when you want to build and inspect your own formulas. You are responsible for connecting each step to the whole-process result and checking the assumptions.

Improve First

Useful for a first-pass sequential process with up to five steps: enter demand, step times and available resources, then compare one proposed improvement with the current estimate. Pro adds saving and saved scenario comparison.

A simulation tool

Consider this when the decision depends on changing arrival times, waiting, shared people or equipment, branching routes or detailed operating rules. Expect to collect the data those effects need.

Check the result before choosing a tool

Use one anonymised example. Change a step that is not limiting output, then change the limiting step. Does the result explain the difference clearly? Can you see the assumptions? If your conclusion changes when a rough time estimate moves slightly, collect better evidence before committing money.

For a concrete example of more detailed modelling, AnyLogic’s resource documentation describes shared resources and task queues. That is a different modelling requirement, not a claim that one tool is always better.