Bottleneck five focusing steps poster

The bottleneck, or constraint, is the step that limits how much the whole line or plant can make. Eliyahu Goldratt's theory of constraints manages it in five focusing steps: identify the constraint, exploit it so it never loses time, subordinate every other step to its pace, raise its capacity only after that, and repeat when the constraint moves. This poster gives the five steps in plain words, with the line from The Goal that explains why they matter.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 375 KB · no form

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Bottleneck poster — 24 x 36 in18 x 24 inA2A3LetterA4PNG 300 dpi

The words on the poster

The five focusing steps

The slowest step sets the pace of the whole line. Manage it first.

Identify Find the constraint: work piles up before it, waits after it.
Exploit Never let it stand: cover breaks, feed it, send it no defects.
Subordinate Run every other step to its pace, not faster.
Raise capacity Only then add more: a machine, a shift, a person.
Repeat When it moves, find the new constraint and start again.

An hour lost at the bottleneck is an hour lost for the whole plant.

Steps after Eliyahu M. Goldratt, The Goal (1984) and What Is This Thing Called Theory of Constraints (1990).

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Bottleneck five focusing steps poster to work

1
Put it at the bottleneck itself, so everyone knows why it gets cover at breaks.
2
Use step 2 in the daily meeting: what stopped the bottleneck yesterday?
3
Use step 3 to stop other steps building stock in front of it.
4
Pair it with the free bottleneck analysis worksheet and process capacity sheet.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.

Sources and notes

Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement (North River Press, 1984).
Eliyahu M. Goldratt, What Is This Thing Called Theory of Constraints and How Should It Be Implemented? (North River Press, 1990): the five focusing steps.