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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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 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 | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 2-8 h | 30-60 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeQualityOperations | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |