De-bottlenecking is one of the very good lean tools focus on reducing cycle time and improving throughput. One of the important toll used is to study the bottlenecks in the system and improving throughput. A systemic approach is taken in studying, analyzing and acting on the bottlencks. A similar approach is taken in the theory of constraints also.
Bottleneck- Definition
The place in the value stream that negatively affects throughput; as a resource capacity limitation, a bottleneck will not allow a system to meet the demand of the customer.
De-bottlenecking:
De-bottlenecking essentially involves studying the bottleneck in the system and Improving the throughput rate of the process by working on optimizing the utilization of the bottleneck.