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| Criterion |  Operations Visual Management |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations Gemba Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With high tempo and many parallel topics, the method makes status, deviations, and priorities visible at a glance. It reduces search effort and prevents what matters from getting lost in daily work. | 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 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 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | 30-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-20 | 4-10 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception Cues | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | SignalsOperationsVisual management | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowMeasurementConstraints | LeanObservationProcessOperations |