The main thing I learned was that constraints of a product manufacturing line ca

The main thing I learned was that constraints of a product manufacturing line can be a great impact to how fast a company can grow. Route 11 produced 7 flavors of potato chips but could only produce one at a time because they only had one production line (Route 11 Potato Chips, 2011). While the majority of the product manufacturing line was the same, there was still a bottleneck happening at the application of the flavor. Based on the sales and profitability of Route 11, it seems that Route 11 could support the need for another flavor applicator portion of its product manufacturing line. The cannot keep the main sellers on the shelves because they have to switch the line to seasonal flavors or other flavors that sell but not as well. I would think some market research in what to expect from a potato chip manufacturer would help them make this cost to benefit decision. A product line is “a group of related products all marketed under a single brand” (Twin, 2023). This is a good thing to note because by having one product manufacturing line there is a bottle neck of how many of each flavor the company can produce and when that causes bare shelves that negatively impacts the marketing plan and the company.

References
Route 11 Potato Chips. Wilcox, Ronald T.; Santos, Carlos Michael. Case No. UVA-M-0810. Published 8/2/2011, Revised 1/19/2012. Darden Business Publishing, 2011. (8 pages).
Twin, A. (2023, May 30). Product lines defined and how they help a business grow. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product-line.asp