Definition
A bottleneck may be a person, approval, system, handoff, policy, or information gap. Improving work away from the constraint may feel productive without improving the overall result.
Why it matters
Finding the true constraint focuses investment where it can create flow rather than only local efficiency.
Business example
A team discovers that a daily supervisor approval delays every order, so it automates low-risk approvals and reserves review for exceptions.
When to use it
Use it whenever output is slow, backlogs grow, or teams keep working hard without improving throughput.
When not to use it
Do not label the busiest person as the bottleneck without measuring where work actually waits.
How Automathing approaches it
We trace the flow and quantify delay before choosing a technical intervention.