Value Stream Mapping
Value stream mapping creates a visual display of the material and information flows associated with a product or product family. This practical, powerful tool enables you to identify and document the paths that materials, products, and information take from order entry through delivery of finished goods to your customer.
The first step is to chart key metrics of existing conditions. This preliminary map highlights inefficiencies and waste, and enables your team to prioritize urgent problems. Next, your team will diagram changes needed to eliminate waste by drawing a “future-state” plan. With the future-state plan as a guide, your team can prioritize improvements and apply lean methods to eliminate or correct specific situations.
Your team will learn to:
- Recognize waste
- Distinguish between process efficiency and value stream efficiency
- Produce in response to customer demand
- Create continuous flow
- Create pull where flow is not possible
- Simplify scheduling
Benefits
Value stream mapping will help you to:
- Increase capacity and productivity
- Reduce overall lead times
- Reduce costs
- Improve cash flow and business liquidity by reducing excess work in process, raw material, and finished-goods inventories
- Increase profitability
- Increase customer satisfaction by improving delivery performance and reducing lead times