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| Criterion |  Engineering Kanban |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | 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. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 2-6 h | 1-3 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 3-10 | 4-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | FlowVisual managementDelivery | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |