Value stream mapping
Value stream mapping is a lean method for mapping the flow of materials and information needed to deliver a product or service to a customer, from order to delivery. It separates steps that add value from waiting and waste, usually records times per step, and is used to design a leaner future state.
What is value stream mapping?
A team first draws the current-state map: each process step with its cycle time, the inventory or waiting between steps, and the information flows that trigger work. The total lead time is compared with the time actually spent working. A future-state map then shows the improved flow, with an action plan to get there.
The method comes from lean manufacturing and is now used in offices and services as well.
Not to be confused with a process map. Value stream mapping focuses on flow, time and waste across the whole stream; a process map focuses on steps, roles and decisions.
Why it matters for SMEs
For example: a metal workshop's value stream map shows that most of an order's lead time is spent waiting between work preparation and production. The map shows where the time goes. Why it waits — only one person may release drawings for non-standard parts — comes out of a conversation.
For SMEs, value stream mapping is a strong way to find where time is lost; captured knowledge explains the reasons.
Value stream mapping in the MentX approach
MentX captures how your company really works: the knowledge of your key people and the processes they run. We offer both a hands-on service approach — mapping your processes and capturing the knowledge behind them, from meetings, workshops and a guided intake — and our own personality-aware knowledge base, with full source attribution, in your own Knowledge Space. We build on the tools you already use and add best-practice solutions where they fit.
Value stream mapping complements the approach: it shows where time goes, while capturing your operations explains why, with the rules and exceptions behind the waiting.