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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Theory of Constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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 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. | 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 | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 1-3 h | 30-90 min | 2-4 h Analyse, laufend |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Constraint Map, Improvement Plan, Flow Metrics |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | FlowMeasurementConstraints | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | OperationsConstraintsFlowImprovement |