The index and its bands are heuristics, untested on real workflows. Validate against queue age, lead time, rework and escaped errors.
Glossary entry
AI Pressure Index
A heuristic that shows whether downstream human capacity is being consumed faster than it recovers. Load at a stage is the capacity required divided by the protected capacity available. Pressure is the highest of the verify, decision and change loads. Under 0.70 is flowing, 0.70 to 0.85 is tight, above 0.85 is overloaded, and above 1.00 is unsustainable.
Why it matters
Queues form before full load, and quality can slip before a backlog is visible, so the index prompts action while there is still slack.
