<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In production and project management, a bottleneck is one process in a chain of processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain . The result of having a bottleneck are stalls in production, supply overstock, pressure from customers and low employee morale . There are both short and long - term bottlenecks . Short - term bottlenecks are temporary and are not normally a significant problem . An example of a short - term bottleneck would be a skilled employee taking a few days off . Long - term bottlenecks occur all the time and can cumulatively significantly slow down production . An example of a long - term bottleneck is when a machine is not efficient enough and as a result has a long queue . </P> <P> An example is the lack of smelter and refinery supply which cause bottlenecks upstream . </P>

What is a bottleneck in a manufacturing process