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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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 an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 2-8 h | 1-4 h | 1-6 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 4-10 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause |