Using the Theory of Constraints method

A common method of troubleshooting IPA processes is called the Theory of Constraints. With this method, you identify the most limiting factor of the process (the constraint) and improve it until it is no longer the worst bottleneck. Then, you move on to identifying and fixing the next biggest performance constraint. The best way to do this in IPA is to turn on process logging, go through your log, look at each activity including the timestamps next to each activity, and see which one took the longest. Reconfigure or redesign until that activity node is no longer the bottleneck, then work on the next slowest activity. Keep in mind that activity nodes within a recursive loop often are culprits because they are executed over and over again. Also remember that once you are done debugging, turn logging back off.