Why Do Some Bakeries Open a Second Cash Register Before a Second Oven?
The slowest part of a system defines the customer experience.
Customers often assume long lines mean the bakery needs more ovens. Sometimes the bakery already produces enough bread.
The hidden mechanism is bottleneck migration. As production improves, constraints often move elsewhere in the system. In many bakeries, checkout speed eventually becomes more important than baking speed.
Imagine a bakery capable of producing hundreds of loaves per hour. If customers wait several minutes to pay, the experience is defined by the register, not the oven.
A second-order effect follows. Faster transactions shorten visible queues, making the bakery appear less crowded and encouraging additional visits.
People often think businesses grow by adding capacity. Many grow by discovering where capacity no longer matters.
