Value Stream Mapping Defined

Technology Articles | January 24, 2008

Value stream mapping is a 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. This is a Lean technique developed at Toyota to identify opportunities for improvement in lead time. Lean manufacturing is a type of production system used to reduce waste in a variety of forms, while increasing overall customer satisfaction.

MAIN OBJECTIVE

The primary goal of value stream mapping is to recognize and reduce waste in steps critical to the process. Waste refers to any course of action which does not increase the value of the final product or service. The desired end result is to understand and streamline the work process while gaining a deeper understanding of the decision flow associated with the process.

Value stream mapping is typically a starting point for identifying sources of waste and the reasons that they exist. This method is used as a tool to communicate work-in-process issues, and to precipitate new process management strategies.

A GLOBAL VIEW OF OPERATIONS

Understanding the value stream is critical to both serving the needs of the customer and to improving the efficiency and profitability of the process. Value stream mapping is the key to understanding the entire process of transforming raw materials into finished goods. It provides a ‘global view’ of the process, allowing managers to identify changes that will produce the best results. Without a value stream map that thoroughly describes the current state of operations, and which provides key performance measures of that process, today’s organizations are likely to repeat errors of the past and fail to see opportunities in simple changes to the process.

An attack on waste can be seen as the methodical elimination of the very things that are causing problems, such as poor management and product quality. Companies like Visual8 offer business solutions using value stream mapping that will pinpoint some of the most common areas of waste, including over-production, lengthy wait times, inefficient conveyance of product, excessive stock, needless movement, and disproportionate rework.

When these wastes are identified via value stream mapping, a company can work on streamlining its processes to be more efficient and productive, and thus produce better end products / services. This is the key to setting apart your product in the increasingly competitive markets in which we operate today.

Article Tags: Value Stream Mapping, Value Stream, Stream Mapping

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Value Stream Mapping software can be found at http://www.visual8.com/value_stream_mapping.html. Visual8 can streamline your production processes or supply chain.