Value Stream Mapping

A value stream map is a standardized model used to layout the stream of value adding activities in a process while overlaying material flow, information flow, and non-value adding waste information to provide a qualitative picture of the actual process in a facility.  This tool also maps the information flow from the customer, through the enterprise to suppliers and back to customers.  It provides a common language for discussing any process.  It provides a means to tie together lean concepts and techniques and a method to develop a working blueprint for implementing lean concepts on the shop floor.  It is an excellent method for describing what is actually taking place now on the shop floor and what a company wants it to look like in the future state.  It takes an enterprise systematically from its current state of operations to a dramatically improved future state – a Lean Enterprise.