Key Metrics Across Industries: A Guide for Business Analysts

Identifying Bottlenecks to Improve Performance and Efficiency

1. Manufacturing

Cycle Time: Time to complete one production cycle
OEE: Equipment productivity (Availability × Performance × Quality)
First Pass Yield: Quality of manufacturing without rework
Downtime: Non-operational time due to failures or maintenance

2. Software Development

Lead Time: Time from request to delivery
Cycle Time: Duration for a single task
Code Churn: Frequency of code rewrites
Bug Rate: Post-release error frequency

3. Supply Chain & Logistics

Inventory Turnover: How fast stock is sold and replenished
Order Fulfillment Time: From order to delivery
Backorder Rate: Frequency of stockouts
Perfect Order Rate: Fully accurate, on-time, complete orders

4. Finance & Accounting

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO): Collection efficiency
Budget Variance: Accuracy of financial planning
Operating Cash Flow: Core business cash health

5. Retail & E-commerce

Conversion Rate: Visitor-to-purchase ratio
Cart Abandonment Rate: Drop-off before purchase
Customer Retention: Loyalty rate
Stockout Rate: Availability issues

6. Healthcare

Patient Wait Time: Speed of service
Readmission Rate: Quality of care
Bed Occupancy Rate: Efficiency of facility use

7. Telecommunications

Churn Rate: Customer loss over time
Network Downtime: Availability issues
First Call Resolution: Customer service efficiency

Cross-Industry Bottleneck Detection Strategies

Use process mapping to identify slow phases
Benchmark KPIs against industry standards
Root cause analysis for underperforming metrics
Stakeholder interviews to uncover hidden pain points