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| Criterion |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 30-60 min | 10-20 min daily | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 1 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | FlowMeasurementConstraints | Root causeQualityOperations | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |