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| Criterion |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Operations Process Mapping |  Operations Theory of Constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | For a system that does not get faster despite effort, the method directs attention to the bottleneck. It concentrates improvement on the point that actually limits throughput. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 30-120 min | 1-3 h | 2-4 h Analyse, laufend |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-6 | 3-10 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Constraint Map, Improvement Plan, Flow Metrics |
Tagsno overlap | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | LeanObservationProcessOperations | ProcessOperationsImprovement | OperationsConstraintsFlowImprovement |