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| Criterion |  Engineering Kanban |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Knowledge Modeling Knowledge 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. | 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. | Knowledge Mapping makes knowledge, gaps, and transfer paths visible across a field. It fits when expertise should not just exist but also be findable and transferable. | 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 | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | 4-10 | 3-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Knowledge Map, Critical Knowledge Areas, Transfer Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | FlowVisual managementDelivery | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | KnowledgeMappingRisk | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |