What is a constrained-line recovery?
Line recovery is the controlled return from unstable or insufficient accepted output to a defined production basis. It separates immediate containment from permanent corrective action and makes the next rate dependent on evidence.
The visible symptom may be missed deliveries, but the controlling constraint may sit in material, supplier quality, kitting, tooling, work instructions, labor, inspection, test, rework, configuration, planning, or release. Adding work upstream can make the real bottleneck worse.
Recovery sequence
- 01
Protect accepted output
Define the product state, delivery priorities, material status, quality holds, work in process, test queue, and release condition.
Output: current-state containment board - 02
Find the controlling constraint
Measure flow from material availability through accepted release. Distinguish the bottleneck from downstream symptoms and reporting noise.
Output: constraint statement and evidence - 03
Stabilize the process
Close the highest-impact package, source, process, training, inspection, test, or release gaps at the current controlled rate.
Output: stable baseline and open-risk list - 04
Prove recovery gates
Increase output only after the prior gate demonstrates accepted units, complete records, controlled defects, and support for the next step.
Output: recovery curve with release evidence
Common symptoms and the questions behind them
| Visible symptom | Possible controlling issue | Evidence to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Assemblies wait for parts | Material planning, source performance, incoming quality, or effectivity mismatch | Shortage aging, supplier status, receipt quality, and configuration demand |
| Work in process keeps growing | Line imbalance, inspection queue, test constraint, or release delay | Queue by operation, cycle time, first-pass yield, and hold reason |
| More labor does not raise output | Tooling, training, material, instructions, supervision, or downstream constraint | Work content, qualification, availability, and accepted output |
| Test failures increase | Product variation, process drift, test asset, software, data review, or false failure | Failure modes, retest, asset status, configuration, and corrective action |
| Schedule changes daily | Unstable demand, shortages, priority conflict, data latency, or uncontrolled rework | Frozen window, release inputs, queue health, and exception decisions |
When should work move to another production path?
Move work when a complete boundary can relieve the controlling constraint or protect a delivery obligation without creating greater configuration, quality, test, or release risk. A transferable package needs defined inputs, process, tooling, inspection, test, output evidence, and authority.
Do not move work only because another floor appears open. If material is unavailable, test is saturated, or the product baseline is unstable, duplicating assembly may not improve accepted output.
What belongs on a recovery dashboard?
- Required and accepted output by period
- Work in process and queue age by operation
- Material shortages and expected resolution
- First-pass yield, rework, and top defect modes
- Inspection and test capacity, availability, and queue
- Configuration holds and documentation gaps
- Corrective actions, owner, due state, and verification
- Evidence required to release the next rate gate
The dashboard should make constraints and decisions visible. It should not be used as a marketing meter or a substitute for source records.