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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Engineering Kanban |  Operations Process Mapping |  Operations Theory of Constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | For a system that does not get faster despite effort, the method directs attention to the bottleneck. It concentrates improvement on the point that actually limits throughput. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 2-4 h Analyse, laufend |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-12 | 3-10 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Constraint Map, Improvement Plan, Flow Metrics |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowVisual managementDelivery | ProcessOperationsImprovement | OperationsConstraintsFlowImprovement |