The constraint moved. Your capacity plan didn’t.

Adding capacity where the queue used to be is one of the most expensive ways to keep throughput exactly where it was.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The constraint moved. Your capacity plan didn’t.

A business spends eighteen months and real money relieving an obvious bottleneck. A second fabrication cell. Two more installers. A senior reviewer to clear the approvals backlog. The queue that everyone complained about disappears. And total output rises by almost nothing. This is one of the most reliably disappointing patterns in operational investment, and it is not a failure of execution. The capacity was delivered. What went wrong is that the system had already moved on, and the plan was still describing the business as it was when the problem…

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Important: General information only. Rialto Bridge articles describe patterns and considerations that may apply to a business; they are not financial, legal, tax or accounting advice, and they take no account of your particular circumstances. Consider your own situation and seek advice from a qualified professional before acting.

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