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| Criterion |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations Waste Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree 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. | For a process that keeps people busy but creates little value, the method exposes waste. It directs attention to unnecessary movement, waiting times, rework, and overdelivery. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-120 min | 1-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Waste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement Backlog | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | FlowMeasurementConstraints | WasteLeanProcess improvement | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |