Current State Value Stream Mapping

Transformation has many requirements, two of those are knowing where we are and where we are going.  This week we will address how to see where we are using Rother and Shook's "Learning to See" method of Value Stream Mapping.  If you want to learn more about your process, this is a perfect way to do it. 

First the rules (oh, no!  not more rules), Value Stream Maps are based on products.  Don't get hung up on thinking about factories, we all make something.  Gears, cars, hot dogs, lawn chairs, pizzas, newspapers, lumber, stock analysis, laptops, contract statements of work, testing instructions, decisions what to spend resources upon, etc, etc, etc; get it?  We all produce something that is passed on to the next internal customer or our final external customer.

Our Current State map

Here is our example Current State Value Stream Map.  Current state means how the product flows as of today.  Again, how the product ACTUALLY flows, not what your ISO documentation says, or how you wish it would flow, but the no-kiddin' real way it flows right now.  If you don't know, go ask the actual people doing the actual work, in fact I recommend you go find out who those people are right now.  Go ahead, I'll wait...

As you can see in the picture the inputs from suppliers are on the left and the output going to the customer is on the right.  The product going through the flow is on the lower half of the map and the information supporting the flow is on the upper half of the map.  Under the transformational activity boxes is where we will store some important metrics like cycle time, touch time, quality yield.  And last, but certainly not least, the time line along the bottom which we will use for part of our value analysis.

Did I say last?  Two more things, identify the product/process and put today's date on the map!  This is really important as you begin to start constructing these high level maps.  One day in the far future you will find a stack of maps and wonder which ones need to be trashed and you will not have a time reference.  Yes I said trashed, we are not cartographers.

There are several things we can read from this map.  Check out the balanced work chart in the lower left corner.  If you are in love with TOC, you should be able to identify where the bottleneck is located.  The Value Added calculation is based on the amount of work in the system in hours and the cycle time of each activity.  The amount of work is based on the calculation of the number of items in the flow and the cycle time for one.

WIP (the number of items in the flow) is an important measure because it represents labor costs and material costs.  Add them together and you know how much money you have tied up.  If you could reduce your WIP costs, what else could you do with that money?  Expand your capital, update your old computers, hire another sales person?  Is the communication flow adequate?  If you are only talking to the last person in the flow then you may not be seeing how the other sections in the product flow are performing.

These maps help to see where to attack first, where is the longest cycle time, lowest quality yield, or longest touch time?  If you have a Belt in your organization, get their help analyzing what is going on with the performance.  While we are asking uncomfortable questions, when was the last time you were on the floor?

So next week we will explore the construction and use of the Future Vision map that will contain the 5-year plan.

What has been your A-Ha! moments constructing your Current State maps?  Does it make you want to start implementing solutions?