Are you sure that’s the reason?
If the process takes a long time to complete, then there will be a wait for the output. Maybe the machine doesn’t work so fast, but what happens after the machine’s process? Or before it? Could that make a difference?
Processes often take a long time, because something has changed since their inception, which means it’s no longer efficient. Or maybe the process was never actually designed in the first place. Or your people have developed a work around – it’s good for them, but backs up the next stage.
What often works for a low level of demand is just not sufficient when demand gets higher. The resources operated well when the demand was 50, but now the demand is 100 any small glitch holds up the whole process, and drives the ‘operator’ to skip tasks, be not so friendly to the customer, not to go through the quality check. Until something breaks.
That’s when the manager gets involved, fixing the problem, fire-fighting, soothing the customer.
But usually it’s not the operator, nor the manager who caused the problem. Nor is it the customer. It’s often the process that’s broken; that needs redesigning. When we support organisations to redesign their processes, we always look to see - what is the overall purpose of the process , and re-design from there.
