Category: Value Stream Mapping

One of the most popular tools in corporate arsenals for looking at how everything is working is Value Stream Mapping. Basically, a way to diagram every step that is involved in bringing something to market, it has quickly become fundamental in helping organizations, large and small, identify and eliminate all kinds of waste. […]

Originating from Lean principles that were developed and later popularized by Toyota, Value Stream Mapping is a great way to visualize the flow of how things work in an organization. Whether it’s manufacturing, marketing, or production, the evolution of Value Stream Mapping over time has helped it go from pen and paper to […]

In today’s super competitive retail landscape, standing out from the competition isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s downright essential. This is especially true when it comes to delivering a strong customer experience, as earning customer loyalty is one of the most outstanding ways to create more business in the future. One way retailers are […]

If you’re unfamiliar with Value Stream Mapping, that’s okay, as it’s not a methodology that has the same recognition as something like Lean Six Sigma. However, this doesn’t mean that Value Stream Mapping lacks a unique purpose as a way to document, analyze, and improve the steps involved in helping an organization or […]

What value stream mapping examples can we pull from real life? Value stream mapping is one of the key tools for looking at how materials and resources flow through a workflow. However, when introduced to this visualization tool, it can be a bit hard to conceive of how it applies to a real […]

Creating and mapping business process models can sound like a daunting task with little tangible value. With input-process-output models, we debunk these myths and introduce a versatile, straightforward methodology that can be used to transform your business.

InterConnect Wiring was constantly needing to be ahead of schedule in assembling its aircraft kits, causing unneeded stress and an unbalanced workload. By utilizing Lean and Six Sigma concepts, the organization was able to make significant improvements to its processes. Despite already being a very successful organization, InterConnect Wiring was able to utilize Lean and […]

Established in 1945 in Mexico City, Grupo Bimbo became a global leader in the baking industry, known for its commitment to quality and innovation. As the company expanded its operations worldwide, it encountered various challenges that threatened its profitability and market position. In response, Grupo Bimbo made a strategic decision to implement Lean Six Sigma […]

The University of North Alabama had been part of the steady decline nationally in students enrolling in MBA programs. In order to turn the tide at the UNA College of Business, a team utilized Value Stream Mapping. By focusing on adding value to the student recruiting process, UNA College of Business was able to dramatically […]

Kienle + Spiess is a German mechanical engineering company that was looking to strengthen its welding division by reducing its rework and improving its quality. To accomplish this, the organization utilized a dual approach where Six Sigma and Lean methods work in tandem. Kienle + Spiess was able to practically eliminate shoddy splatter from the […]

In business, when times get tough, the knee-jerk reaction is to have layoffs. What follows is a remarkable example of one company that decided to make a further investment in its people by getting them trained toward Six Sigma Green Belt certification and having them put their focus on saving money for the organization. Even […]

With strategic implementation, Six Sigma can do wonders for an organization. The methodology can drastically improve processes, cut down on waste, and even help provide better results in the design and R&D of new products. Samsung found that it was having issues with all of the above and, in 1999, conducted a complete overhaul of […]

As a recently promoted Vice President, Chuck needed to quickly understand what all his people were doing. Chuck, a longtime employee of a major utility company, had been recently promoted to Vice President to take over the leadership of a wide range of different functions than what he had been managing. As a result of […]

This consumer products company has a large portfolio of products. Working with key customers, the company develops and promotes brand marketing programs to help the customer improve their sales which increases the company’s revenue as well. The CEO of the company realized the percentage of successful promotions was less than he expected. At the same […]

A process map is a hierarchical method for displaying processes that illustrates how a product or transaction is processed. It is a visual representation of the workflow either within a process — or an image of the whole operation. Process mapping comprises a stream of activities that transforms a well-defined input or set of inputs into a pre-defined set of outputs.

Gain a better understanding of value stream mapping and how you can use it in your business. We’ll cover the flow, department interactions, bottleneck identification, and key metrics — as well as a few best practices.

During the month of August – while many are taking time off to enjoy summer – we will be offering a resource page on a particular topic. The resource page features an overview of the week’s topic and links to the best related content across iSixSigma (articles, blogs, discussions, Marketplace products and dictionary entries). This […]

On her drive into work, Melissa Garcia was listening to Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor and sipping on the mocha java blend she’d brewed in her kitchen just minutes before. It was a brisk fall Thursday morning, and Melissa was headed into the office where she was three weeks into her […]

Fifteen years ago, a student of mine introduced me to the Toyota Way. As a participant in a project management program and then in a Six Sigma course, this young man (who happened to be across the world from me in Japan) began posting assignments using methodologies from his employer, Toyota. Later, that student became […]

A complete value stream map (VSM) is like a flowchart on steroids. There is the usual action boxes with arrows showing the flow of work, but a lot of other information, too – material and information flow, operating parameters, process and lead times, inventory, a timeline depicting value-added time relative to overall lead time, and […]

Value stream analysis is one of the easiest methods to analyze a process and identify areas that can be improved. Even someone inexperienced can find the low hanging fruit. But what do you do when you want to conduct a value stream analysis and the boss tells you that he is not going to buy […]

Not so long ago in an organization not so far away, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt not much different from many other Black Belts was running a value stream analysis. Creating the current state map was relatively easy since the participants understood their function and the way that information and inventory flowed along the […]

Value stream mapping is a lean manufacturing or lean enterprise technique used to document, analyze and improve the flow of information or materials required to produce a product or service for a customer. Full definition.