Key Points

• Value Stream Mapping is a valuable way to examine all the processes a company performs.
• There is no doubt that this methodology incorporates many elements from Lean.
• The goal is to examine processes that can be eliminated, thereby providing customers with more value and shareholders with increased profits.

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 company deliver a product or service to its customers. 

The goal of Value Stream Mapping is to visualize the flow of materials, from the beginning of a process to its end. Better known as VSM, the primary goal of this entire approach is to identify the steps along the way that add value to a process and which steps can be eliminated, as they ultimately slow down the process. 

What Is Value Stream Mapping? 

To add a little more color to what Value Stream Mapping is, it is essentially a way to create a visual representation, similar to a flowchart, to analyze and improve any steps involved in delivering a product or service. As soon as someone inside an organization can properly map out the process from start to finish, key stakeholders should examine areas that don’t add value to the process. 

There’s a significant amount of coordination between VSM and Lean methodology, as it’s a way to control waste, which ties directly to Lean principles. The goal is to stop overproduction, eliminate any processes that lead to defective parts, and integrate best practices for handling the people and products involved in the production process. 

Why Use Value Stream Mapping? 

At the very top of the list of reasons as to why you would use Value Stream Mapping, it revolves around identifying and eliminating waste. Whether it’s overproduction, excess inventory, or something similar, the goal is to free up space in a warehouse by reducing excess stock. 

Similarly, a Value Stream Map will specifically highlight where delays occur in a process, as well as any redundancies that can be eliminated. Are there any non-value-added steps that can be identified and eliminated? 

The hope is that by undertaking this process, an organization will enhance customer value by directly focusing on steps that improve customer satisfaction with the final product. The hope is that by doing so, a company can give itself a competitive advantage, whether it’s by streamlining processes, reducing costs, or improving overall quality. 

Step-by-Step Guide

There is no question that, depending on who you ask, there are a few different guides that you can put together for a Value Stream Mapping. However, in this case, we’ve identified seven strong steps that can help you put together a really strong presentation that will deliver considerable value to key stakeholders. 

Define the Scope and Objectives

The very first step for Value Stream Mapping should be to determine what is actually being mapped. Is it a specific product, process, or service? Knowing the answer to this question will help better define the start and end points. 

The same can be said for establishing the right objectives, such as reducing lead time, lowering costs, or eliminating defects. This step should also involve all relevant stakeholders, such as managers, frontline workers, or anyone familiar with the current processes. 

Assembling a Cross-Functional Team

To ensure a successful Value Stream Mapping process, assembling the right team is a critical piece of the puzzle. You will want to ensure that representatives from all necessary departments, such as production, customer service, or procurement, are included in the conversations from the start. 

Additionally, you must determine who is responsible for each role, such as a facilitator who will handle lead mapping or a scribe who will be responsible for documentation. Of course, you also want subject matter experts who can give you the fine details of every single process that is being mapped. At most, you likely don’t want more than eight people to come together and play a role. 

Map the Current State

As part of the third step, you will delve into the details of Value Stream Mapping and begin to document the process. This might start with a Gemba walk to observe operations firsthand. The best way to learn is by doing, so seeing everything in action might provide some additional insight into specific processes. 

The hope is that you can examine process activities such as packaging or machining, as well as the material flow, which involves how raw materials are transformed into finished goods, along with the flow of information. The latter will examine how order processing occurs, as well as inventory updates, including current inventory levels.

At the top of the priority list is calculating the total lead time, as well as the actual processing time, which is the value-adding time. 

Identifying Waste and Opportunities

The fourth step in Value Stream Mapping involves identifying non-value-adding activities as primary targets for improvement. As you and your team analyze the current map for Lean waste, you can examine overproduction, any delays between process steps, and even how transportation could lead to unnecessary movement of materials. 

Separately, this process can also examine overprocessing, such as whether any unnecessary steps are being taken. What about excess inventory that is tying up existing resources or defects that are requiring rework? Any problem area should be specifically highlighted on the Value Stream Map, such as excess inventory in a retail supply chain, which leads to significant storage costs. 

Designing the Future State Map

As part of the fifth step, Designing the Future State Map, you should examine how to optimize processes based on identified improvement opportunities. In other words, you should be looking at or proposing solutions to eliminate waste, such as reducing delivery by using Just-In-Time delivery methods. 

Alternatively, an organization can streamline the flow of information by utilizing automated order processing or reducing lead time from five days to three. In this step, you will begin creating a new map that outlines the ideal process, having identified the steps that are currently slowing things down. 

Develop an Implementation Plan

The good news is that when you hit the sixth step, you’re almost done, but not quite there. This step presents an opportunity to transform everything you have written into actionable steps. This involves assigning the metrics you want to track to determine if progress is being made. This could include evaluating lead time or examining the new defect rate over the past month to determine if it has been reduced.

A hospital might be looking to reduce patient wait times by starting a new triage process. The only way to know for sure how things are going is to compare the current wait times to those of previous months. This is the only way to know for sure if things are working. Any plan like this one needs to be implemented as soon as possible to see if the team is on the right track toward success. 

Monitor and Improve

In the final step of Value Stream Mapping, you want to think about how you can monitor and work on continuous improvement. Rest assured that just because a new Value Stream Map is created, it may not be the last one you do. The new process might be better, but it may also be an opportunity to revisit in six months or a year to see if any further adjustments are needed to eliminate more waste. 

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

If you want to explore another topic, you can read about a similar subject, starting with another Beginner’s Guide on Gemba Walks. This is an important step that provides a great way to see how things are truly working firsthand, and it complements the concept of Value Stream Mapping. The same can be said for engaging employees, who will be responsible for implementing the new Value Stream Map. 

Of course, don’t ignore other hot topics, such as the role of leadership in Total Quality Management or building a business case for incorporating Lean Six Sigma in nonprofits. Lastly, if you need a real scorching topic to spend the weekend on, take a look at this head-turner on why engaging people in your continuous improvement efforts really pays off in the end. 

Conclusion 

At the end of the day, Value Stream Mapping can be a hugely successful implementation for organizations large and small. The idea of identifying any waste that could be cut from the bottom line seems like a great strategy. If the goal is to reduce overhead, improve customer satisfaction, and increase profits, creating a Value Stream Map sounds like a great idea.