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Process management law

Little's Law

A relationship between the average number of items in a system, their average time in the system and the average Throughput of the process.

Related domain: Industrial EngineeringConcept ID: concept-littles-law

Definition

A relationship between the average number of items in a system, their average time in the system and the average Throughput of the process.

Human Explanation

It shows that more items present in a process generally mean a longer completion time.

Why it Matters

It supports Flow analysis, Lead Time prediction and understanding the effects of process overload.

Conceptual Boundary

Its practical application assumes a sufficiently stable system with balanced long-term inflow and outflow.

Practical Perspective

It is used in Lean Management, logistics, production, services and Project management.

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