Overview

A key part of any Lean implementation is a profound understanding of the overall value-adding components of your fulfillment processes. This helps quickly identify where major opportunities exist to reduce overall cycle time, reduce inventory, reduce overall operational costs and increase customer responsiveness.

Scope And Deliverables

Value stream mapping is a paper and pencil tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service makes its way through the value stream. Value stream mapping is typically used in Lean, and differs from traditional process mapping used for Continuous Improvement or Six Sigma in several ways:

• It gathers and displays a far broader range of information than a typical process map.
• It tends to be at a higher level (5-10 boxes) than most process maps.
• It tends to be used at a broader level, i.e. from receiving of raw material to delivery of finished goods.
• It tends to be used to identify where to focus future projects, subprojects, and/or kaizen events.

A value stream map takes into account not only the activity of producing the product, but the management and information systems that support the basic process. This is especially helpful when working to reduce cycle time, because you gain insight into the decision making flow in addition to the process flow.

A Value Stream Map is actually a critical tool in the implementation of Lean. We consider it to be the doorway into the “House of Lean” .

The basic idea is to first map your process, then above it map the information flow that enables the process to occur. Finally, the cycle time elements (including inventory) are added to the diagram.

What We Will Do

• Determine and agree-upon the overall scope of the VSMA project, specifically which operations and product families are to be included.
• Collect information required to draw the VSM.
• Conduct the analyses to determine overall process cycle time, and value-added time.
• If appropriate, envision several solution alternatives.
• For each solution alternative, create relevant VSMAs.
• Select the preferred future state solution.
• Present current state and future state VSMs to your leadership team.
• Provide a high-level roadmap for implementation.

What We Need You To Do

• Provide us with a list of key contacts for the relevant process areas.
• Authorize these personnel to provide us with required information in a timely manner.
• Ensure availability of the leadership team for the presentation of the current and future state VSMs.
• Consider and provide us with feedback on our recommendations in a timely manner.

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