DBR attempts to maximize the flow through the bottleneck by minimizing the buildup of inventory at the bottleneck while keeping the bottleneck busy at all times. Non-bottleneck operations are not permitted to produce more output than can be processed by the bottleneck, because this creates excess inventory and doesn't increase throughput contribution.
The sequence of processes prior to (not after) the constraint is the rope. There are different steps in managing bottleneck operations through the use of the theory of constraints (TOC) analysis. The constrained process is the drum and the sequence of processes prior to the constraint is the rope. The objective is to balance the flow of production through the rope by timing and scheduling activity for all processes leading up to the drum.
The buffer is a minimum amount of work-in-process inventory waiting for completion by the constrained process (just enough to ensure that the constrained process is busy at all times).
In DBR, the constrained process is the drum.
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