Learning to See – Lean Manufacturing (Blog #2)
It is likely my last article has you thinking, “draw a map?!” who has time to do that!? (Click here to view the 1st article in this series).
What is a value stream? Who cares? Really, I can find my way around our company without a map. No doubt you can. Did you happen to notice when you were walking around that something was not working or not where it should be? Did it seem odd that there was dust collecting on the inventory? Was the team working on a customer order or were they working on something that had nothing to do with the customer order?
Did you see these things? If so, that is great! You are well on your way to drawing a value stream map. Now all you need to do is package it so everyone in the organization can see it too! After all, you do want the customer’s order to go out on time and exactly as ordered, right? It would also be nice if it contributed to the bottom line as well. Right!?
To begin Value Stream Mapping, walk around and really see what is happening in fulfilling the customer order process. At first, it is the big picture map you need to draw. It is a very rough layout, but like any good map, the details are needed or you will soon be lost. For now just get the big picture map in hand. Take your time. This is the most important part of the value stream mapping process. You must know exactly how the customer order is processed and who touches it along the way. This is leading you to the “current state” of a value stream map.”
Hey wait a minute! Where did this “current state” stuff come from!? The current state is how the process works today. It is how you add or do not add value to the customer order. If you do not know exactly how the current state of the value stream is working, how will you improve it?
Sound familiar? I bet it does.
Grab that paper and pencil and a few members of your team and draw the map. Start with the customer and bring the order through the company. Be sure to map every step in the process along the way. Remember, it is a round trip back to the customer.
Have fun and remember it does not have to be perfect, just map it!
Next time we will talk about the “important details” in the map.