Tag Archives: value stream map example

Five Minute Lean – Add Important Data to Your Map

July 28, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean book excerpt, lean book, learn lean, swim lane chart example, value stream map data, value stream map example, what information to add to value stream mapDavid McLachlan

This is an excerpt from the book "Five Minute Lean", by David McLachlan - a wonderful book that blends teaching of the tools, culture and philosophy of traditional Lean with a modern-day Lean parable.

You can get the whole book on Amazon here and enjoy your own copy.

Add Important Data to Your Map

‘Including the right information on your process map allows you to see areas where you can improve straight away.’

The last step in “Map” is adding the right information to our Value Stream Map so we can reveal problems and improve the process. This data includes:

Rework or defects
Additional problems or ideas called out by front-line staff
Non-value added steps
Process and customer timing

Let’s look at each one in turn, and then an example at the end.

Rework Percentages

Rework can also be known another way as “First Pass Yield” or “First Time Right”. Basically, this is how many times you need to go back through the previous steps to get additional information or fix a defect, for example a car that needs repainting, or a form that is not filled out correctly and needs more information from the previous department.

If our item goes through correctly 70% of the time, then we have a “First Pass Yield” of 70%. Or, if you prefer, you can note it as rework, which is one of the wastes we go into in (3.1) and in which case it would be reworked 30% of the time.

Kaizen Bursts

You will notice in our Value Stream Map icons that there is an icon called Kaizen Burst. A Kaizen Burst icon is a great way to write down additional ideas or problems called out by our front-line team-mates.

We can then delve deeper into these additional problems and solutions when we move into root cause analysis (3.3) and brainstorming solutions.

value stream map kaizen bursts

Figure 10: Examples of using Kaizen Bursts to call out opportunities for improvement. Note that we number opportunities to correspond with the process step they relate to.

Value Add / Non Value Add Steps

If the process task improves the product, or the experience of the customer and it is something our customer is willing to pay for, we consider it Value Add (VA). Almost everything else is Non-Value Add (NVA) or waste that we can seek to reduce.

We can also note NVAR or “Non-Value Add Required” steps, that might include things like regulatory approvals or audits that don’t add value but are necessary to perform.

Timing our Processes

We can display these value add (VA) and non-value add (NVA) steps with a process timing band. In a Value Stream Map, the timings for our NVA steps stand out on the peaks, and the timings for the VA steps stay in the valleys underneath our map, shown in Figure 11.

value stream map non value add timing

Figure 11: An example of Value Add (process boxes) and Non-Value Add (queues) in a process map, shown by the timing band underneath each process. Value Add steps are shown in the valleys, while Non-Value Add steps stand out on the peaks.

When gathering the timings for our process it is a good idea to time a process at least 10 times, then use the “lowest repeatable time” as the standard – the lowest time that appears three times or more. You may need to time more for fast processes and slightly less for slow processes, but 10 is often a good place to start.

There are also three main types of timings that we need to reveal:

Cycle Time, which is the time of a single process. This is noted underneath the process step.
Lead Time, which is the total time to create and deliver a product or service. This can be noted at the end.
Takt Time, which is the rate of items required as determined by the customer, for each shift.

To get our Takt time, we take the average items sold (or serviced) and divide it by the hours worked. For example if Lisa’s customers called through 40 times a day (per operator) and she worked eight hours (480 minutes), her customer demand would be one every 12 minutes (480 minutes, divided by 40 calls = 12 minutes a call).

Of course, all of these timings relate to “Delivery” in our Customer Driven Metrics (1.2). Now that we have all this information, let’s add it to our Value Stream Map and see what it looks like:

value stream map with data

Figure 12: A Value Stream Map of our Shoe Emporium process, now with rework, process timing separated into Value Add and Non-Value Add as well as the other common icons. The Takt time can be added separately.

swim lane flow chart timings

Figure 13: A Swim Lane Flow Chart of our Shoe Emporium process. Although it is uncommon for a map like this, the important NVA times (the top times) and VA times (the bottom times) are also noted, with the totals on the right.

So well done! There is a lot to take in in this chapter, but you did it.

On your journey you will notice that different people and organisations might lay out their maps slightly differently. As long as there is an agreed standard within your company, then including the information listed in this chapter at a minimum will give you enough insight to start making improvements.

If you are doing all of this for the first time, it can be a truly eye-opening experience. There might have been something that annoyed you in your job or business that you just couldn’t put your finger on – but when you map it all out you can actually see it. You can see where the hold ups are, the rework, bottlenecks in the process and more. It’s amazing, and it can really improve your work and your life.

Selected chapters from the story within Five minute Lean:

Check out these selected chapters from the teachings within Five Minute Lean:

Five Minute Lean – Map the Value Stream to Reveal Opportunities

July 27, 2017Five Minute Lean Excerptfive minute lean excerpt, lean book, lean map, learn lean, swimlane chart, value stream map, value stream map definition, value stream map example, value stream map iconsDavid McLachlan

Map the Value Stream to Reveal Opportunities

‘Mapping the process in this way, you can see your entire process at a glance, including any blockages or sticking points to fix.’

A Value Stream Map (VSM) is a map of the flow of steps for creating our product or service. It can be done at a high level, between departments or a low level, in a single task. Because of this, mapping the value stream is a good way to create a standard operating procedure (5.4), if one doesn’t already exist. This is also the method that Steve taught to Lisa and encouraged her to try with her teammates, and in doing so they revealed a number of problems and opportunities.

In fact that is the reason we map our value stream: to reveal opportunities in our process for us to improve. Things like long process times, many queues, having to redo work, or information travelling between too many departments. All of this is referred to as “waste”, which we go into in more detail in (3.1).

You should know that there is a lot of information packed into the next two sections, and learning how to make a value stream map can seem daunting at first. However, at the end you will be able to see your process at a glance, and it is a very powerful tool.

When creating a VSM, the easiest part to grasp is noting the process steps down the bottom, in order from left to right. Before that, the customer is noted in the top right hand corner, and the supplier is noted in the top left hand corner.

Let’s take a look at something simple to start with – our first “SIPOC” step, or Lisa taking a sales call at the Shoe Emporium.

lean value stream map basic

Figure 5: A basic start of a Value Stream Map for the Shoe Emporium sales process. The stream “supplier” is in the top left, the steps are bottom left to right, and we ultimately deliver to the customer again in the top right, completing the cycle.

As you go through the chapters in this book all of this will make more sense to you. Below are a few of the common icons you might come across in a Value Stream Map for you to reference as we progress.

lean value stream map icons list

Figure 6: Some of the main Icons to help show your process clearly when creating a Value Stream Map.

A picture says a thousand words, so let’s add some of these icons in where they belong, and we can see how they work in our Value Stream Map.

lean value stream map example

Figure 7: Our Value Stream Map with added systems, email communication, queues and delivery. With a little experience a map like this will be second nature to you.

We now can see queues in between our processes, an email communication, an automatic transfer of information from the telephone prompt, databases or systems for where our information is stored, and a truck icon at the end, showing the delivery of the forms to our customer to end this part of the process.

Swim Lane Flow Charts

For those of you who are not yet comfortable with a Value Stream Map, another way of mapping a process is to use a Swim Lane Flow Chart. Also known as a Business Process Map (BPM), it’s called a Swim Lane Chart because it looks like an Olympic swimming pool – but don’t be deceived by how simple it seems. This method of mapping a process is also extremely powerful.

Different departments or stations are noted on the left from top to bottom with their lanes extending to the right. It’s in these lanes that each step is noted, and the steps move up or down the lanes depending on who is performing the step. A picture will help:

lean swimlane flowchart

Figure 8: A basic example of a swim lane flow chart, used to map our value stream. The departments are vertical (up/down) and the process steps are horizontal (left to right).

The main difference is in the process boxes, where a square is a normal process, a diamond is a decision box (often posed as a “yes or no” question) with one or more pathways and a circle is the start or end of a value stream.

lean swimlane icons

Figure 9: The three main types of process boxes in a Swim Lane Flow Chart. A decision process step is often posed as a “yes or no” question, with the answer influencing where the process goes from there.

You can often get a good idea of the process at a glance using this method. It is also very easy (once you have the hang of it) to quickly jot a Swim Lane Flow Chart down on a napkin or piece of paper over a cup of coffee with front-line team-mates. Next, we add some more information to our map so we can see any opportunities to improve at a glance.

Selected chapters from the story within Five minute Lean:

Check out these selected chapters from the teachings within Five Minute Lean: