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| Criterion |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations Waste Analysis |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Engineering Kanban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | For a process that keeps people busy but creates little value, the method exposes waste. It directs attention to unnecessary movement, waiting times, rework, and overdelivery. | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. | When work sits in too many parallel streams, throughput suffers and no one sees the bottlenecks. Kanban makes the flow of work visible and limits overload so a system becomes calmer and more predictable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-120 min | 1-3 h | Ongoing |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 4-10 | 2-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Waste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement Backlog | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics |
Tagsno overlap | FlowMeasurementConstraints | WasteLeanProcess improvement | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowVisual managementDelivery |