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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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 a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 30-60 min | 2-8 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | Root causeQualityOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |