The value stream mapping

So what happens between the start and the end of the process? And, even more importantly: does this create maximum value for the customer and the organisation?

The name says it all: We're talking about a continuous process that represents a flow (value stream). Achieving the highest possible value here is the goal of the customer (he wants a high-quality product within a short time) AND the organisation (it wants to produce the product as quickly and cheaply as possible without long-term pre-financing of materials). Very often, organisations lose sight of these targets in practice. Delivery of a new car takes e.g. six months, or a new kitchen is only delivered after 12 weeks. What are the reasons behind?

To find out, we need to investigate the production process (whether we're looking at products or services) more closely. We list the individual process stages and examine them according to specific evaluation parameters. That very quickly reveals typical waste factors such as waiting times, lack of or inferior standards, too little or too much information, the wrong technologies and more. Working closely with the process owners, we identify and document the value-adding and waste shares of the various process stages, based on data, facts and figures.

The ratio of the actual value-adding share to the overall lead time is termed the degree of flow. It represents a significant measure of whether the product or service is really flowing efficiently, or devoting substantial amounts of time to waste activity.

So what do we do with this newly gained knowledge?

Using as our basis an current state map (value stream mapping), we develop a future state map (value stream mapping) according to the principles of lean processes. It's all about minimising or, even better, eliminating waste!

Value stream analysis consultation