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| Criterion |  Engineering Kanban |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Operations Kaizen Event |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 tightly scoped process segment with noticeable waste, the method bundles shared energy for change. It suits situations that call for fast learning loops and visible adjustments. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 30-120 min | 0.5-5 Tage | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 2-6 | 4-10 | 4-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Kaizen Charter, Waste List, Improvement Experiments, Standard Work Update | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list |
Tagsno overlap | FlowVisual managementDelivery | LeanObservationProcessOperations | LeanContinuous improvementOperations | LeanFlowWasteDelivery |