Fifty years of the bowl phenomenon

•Hillier and Boling's (1966) bowl phenomenon is revisited after 50 years.•A comprehensive review of the related literature is performed.•The bowl phenomenon is still relevant in modern-day production systems.•Insights into when a ‘bowl shape’ is effective are provided.

This article provides an overview and update of the extant literature on the bowl phenomenon, fifty years after the seminal work of Hillier and Boling [1]. It provides insights into the conditions under which unbalancing a production line with faster stations toward the center of the line in a ‘bowl shape’ is effective. It further points to its relevance in modern-day production systems where outsourcing, flexibility needs and disassembly lines are proliferating, and suggests where research into the bowl phenomenon can usefully contribute to manufacturing needs in the future.