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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Waste Analysis |  Operations Gemba Walk |  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. | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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 | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-120 min | 30-120 min | Ongoing |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Waste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement Backlog | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | WasteLeanProcess improvement | LeanObservationProcessOperations | FlowVisual managementDelivery |