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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Waste Analysis |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Engineering Kanban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 process that keeps people busy but creates little value, the method exposes waste. It directs attention to unnecessary movement, waiting times, rework, and overdelivery. | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-120 min | 1-3 h | Ongoing |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Waste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement Backlog | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | WasteLeanProcess improvement | FlowMeasurementConstraints | FlowVisual managementDelivery |