We are continuing our Lean Office transformation journey by seeing how we are currently adding value to our products.
Step 2. Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family
Our team has spent some time talking to their customers about the important characteristics of the reports and analysis they provide and have talked to the boss about the performance levels required of the team. Armed with this future state information the team is ready to move to the next step.
Starting the Lean Journey begins with knowing where we are right now and our knowing is based on can we really see what is going on. Now is the time to break out your toolbox full of black permanent markers, canary yellow stickies, and tape some paper on the wall. Step one is the most important, title and date your map. Find your charter and tell the team the scope of the project as these will be the beginning and ending of the process flow.
Gather your team around the wall and arm them with the pens and stickies, and they will write the steps down that describes how the product flows through the process. Make sure the steps on the stickies are written at the desktop level, not at the executive 50000ft. This does a couple of things for us. First the team has a sense of ownership of the flow, not just the map. Second is the team, with internal customers and suppliers, have a true understanding of what is going on from step to step as the product is transformed from data into information.
The type of process map I have found most helpful is the swimlane map. Imagine an Olympic style pool where each swimmer has their own lane. This is exactly what your process map will look like, and each person, team, or function will have their own lane. In these lanes you add the stickie notes in time order of how the product transforms. Make sure you get all the hand-offs and rework loops.
Write down the cycle time for each step and the touch time, we will use this information to help calculate the total time and baseline process cost. By now the team is loosened up, loaded with coffee, and has a common understanding of the flow. Enter the Bad Cop...
It's time for Value Analysis. Break out your Red, Yellow, and Green dots and ask the three questions (not from the old man from scene 24). If we can answer "Yes" to all 3 at the same time, that stickie will get a Green dot. They are; 1) Does the step change fit, form, or function of the product, AND 2) Is it a step that matters to the internal customer OR is it a step the customer would be willing to pay for, AND 3) Can we perform that step correctly the first time. There is usually some amount of weeping and gnashing of teeth to get through the first two steps, but is faster the remaining steps. No one wants to be thought of as "Non-Value-Added".
A step will receive a Red dot if any of the 3 questions are answered with "No" and there is no requirement, law, mandate, regulation, or rule forcing us to perform that step. If there is something making us perform that step, then it receives a Yellow dot. There may be other analysis you perform on the map, but this is the basic.
The map will be ugly, but it's yours to change.
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