DAF Foundations OF Lean Practice Question
If you have a 'bottleneck', how does increasing local efficiency at a non-bottleneck step affect the system?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
It increases the pile-up at the bottleneck.
Increasing speed at a non-bottleneck simply pushes more work to the bottleneck, increasing the pile-up without increasing system throughput.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
It reduces the cycle time of the entire system.
Why it's wrong here
It actually increases wait time at the bottleneck.
- ✗
It has no effect on the system.
Why it's wrong here
It significantly impacts the queue at the bottleneck.
- ✓
It increases the pile-up at the bottleneck.
Why this is correct
The system throughput is limited by the bottleneck; faster inputs just create larger queues.
- ✗
It improves the total throughput of the system.
Why it's wrong here
Throughput is governed by the bottleneck (Theory of Constraints).
About these practice questions
This DAF question is part of Courseiva's 211-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
This DAF practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DAF exam.