Pullonkaulassa

Pullonkaulassa is a Finnish term describing a bottleneck: a point or stage in a process where capacity is insufficient to meet demand, causing delays and queues. The concept is used across fields such as manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and project or software development. A bottleneck determines the pace of the whole system, and its location can shift if the process is changed or demand varies.

In practice, pullonkaulassa occurs when a single step or resource bounds the overall throughput. Examples include a production line where one machine processes slower than others, a highway section with reduced lanes creating upstream congestion, or a software pipeline where one stage limits the rate at which features can be delivered. Bottlenecks may arise from equipment downtime, limited staffing, poor process design, variability in task times, or imbalanced workflows.

Indicators of a bottleneck include rising work-in-progress, longer cycle times, increasing lead times, frequent queues, and high utilization of a single resource relative to others. Addressing bottlenecks typically involves applying constraint-management ideas: elevate the bottleneck by adding capacity or improving efficiency at that stage; subordinate and synchronize other parts of the process to the bottleneck’s pace; reduce variability; or shift demand and reflow tasks to balance load. Lean tools such as value-stream mapping, line balancing, and SMED (single-minute exchange of die) can help. In IT and software, limiting work-in-progress in Kanban systems highlights bottlenecks and supports gradual throughput improvements.

Overall, recognizing and managing pullonkaulassa aims to maximize system throughput, minimize delays, and improve delivery performance.