Capacity Constraint

The specific operational resource which can be an individual’s available hours, a system’s throughput limit, a vendor’s volume ceiling, or a physical infrastructure capacity whose limited availability is the primary factor restricting operational output growth at a given point in time.

Identifying and systematically addressing capacity constraints is the mechanism by which operations leaders extend the company’s operational ceiling ahead of revenue growth rather than in response to it. 

A capacity constraint only becomes visible as a problem when revenue growth has already exceeded it, by which point the cost of addressing it is substantially higher.