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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Kepner-Tregoe | ![]() Operations Bottleneck Analysis | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() Operations Theory of Constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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. | 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 | High | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 2-8 h | 1-3 h | 30-60 min | 2-4 h Analyse, laufend |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Constraint Map, Improvement Plan, Flow Metrics |
Tagsno overlap | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | FlowMeasurementConstraints | Root causeQualityOperations | OperationsConstraintsFlowImprovement |



