Why do a vsm

If your project value stream uses a Waterfall methodology that might be a couple of times a year. But if you use an Agile methodology, that could be monthly. It can also be used to focus on smaller segments of the process, enabling a deeper dive into those process specifics. The goal is to make ongoing iterative improvements to the process, using strategy before tactics. Those improvements can take multiple forms, such as changes in procedures, incorporating automation, adding new tools, increasing headcounts, etc.

Some identified improvements might focus on improving team morale, team or cross-team unification, training, improving team focus, or inter-department process and workflow transparency. Staying competitive in business requires consistent process improvement and monitoring. These metrics need to be tracked regularly, some even daily or hourly.

So how are these numbers tracked in the real world? Most organizations will establish a report, or series of reports, that show the data points of interest.

Dashboards are also a great way to display current figures. There are, of course, a wide variety of tools that can be employed to track and report the necessary value stream data points throughout the entire mapped process. A few will even provide support for other development lifecycle management functions.

For example, in looking at the enterprise-scale development process, Plutora Value Stream Management Solutions has the ability to track and provide detailed reporting and analytics on the entire development process from concept to delivery.

This type of dashboard can be a powerful tool to show current state value stream data in near real-time. This dashboard also gives the viewer the ability to easily drill down into data hotspots to identify specific issues and bottlenecks.

It also integrates with tools like ServiceNow to further expand the tracking and reporting capability to include production system uptime, production side release tracking, feature requests and more. As a founding member of the Value Stream Management Consortium , Plutora is committed to helping businesses to deliver more value to their customers.

Tools like Plutora are designed to track and report on data of all types, including the data used in the value stream maps. These tools are ideal for providing dashboards, reports, and analytics that track the performance of the entire mapped process in nearly real time. They provide amazing transparency and clarity of current state throughout the entire lifecycle. They also enable the user to drill down into the data to identify and address problem areas.

At the end of the day, the goal is to develop a corporate culture that provides the best possible product to meet or exceed customer needs and expectations. This is ultimately done by making continual improvements to the value stream.

Learn more about how Plutora can help improve your value stream. Learn More. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. A clear example of such steps is the quality inspections that are irreplaceable in every production process.

Value stream mapping became a popular practice with Lean's rise in the second half of the 20th century. It was one of the foundations that made the Toyota Production System a manufacturing sensation, although, by that time, the term VSM was not present. However, it is a common misconception that Toyota invented the practice associated with visually mapping a workflow.

There are records of diagrams showing the flow of materials and information in a book called Installing Efficiency Methods by Charles E. By the s, the value stream mapping process became part of the lives of many western managers. Its popularity started to outgrow manufacturing and eventually spread into knowledge work industries such as software development, IT operations, marketing, and many others.

The primary purpose of creating a value stream map is to show you where you can improve your process by visualizing both its value-adding and wasteful steps. You just have to display every vital step of your workflow and evaluate how it brings value to your customer. This allows you to analyze your process in-depth and provides you with precise insights into where you should make changes to improve the way you work. Value stream mapping is gaining popularity in knowledge work because it allows teams that work in a siloed environment to visualize their work and collaborate better.

As a result, teams can increase work handoffs' efficiency, which is a major culprit for accumulating wait time in your system. Kanban is probably one of the most reliable value stream mapping tools. Especially if you want to visualize a knowledge work process. In a supply chain, value stream mapping can root out costly delays leading to a finished product. In manufacturing, value stream mapping helps identify waste by analyzing each step of material handling and information flow.

The process items that flow through the value stream are materials. In service industries, value stream mapping facilitates effective and timely services for external customers, whereas inside administration and offices, it facilitates services for internal customers.

In healthcare, value stream mapping ensures that patients are effectively treated with high-quality care. The process items that flow through the value stream are customer needs. Value stream mapping originated in the enterprise manufacturing industry. The company uses value stream mapping to outline the steps required to produce a new car. After reviewing car production steps, the company identifies a handoff stage in the development that appears wasteful.

This handoff stage requires a forklift to move raw materials from one side of a warehouse to the production line. However, this move has safety risks and is time consuming. From this insight the company decides to permanently move the raw material storage directly adjacent to the production line.

This increases efficiency and potentially removes the requirement of the forklift altogether! Overproduction is a catalyst to many other forms of waste. When a manufactured product is overproduced it leads to further waste through unnecessary costs like extra storage, wasted raw materials, and capital frozen in useless inventory. Inventory waste is the liability cost that comes with storing and preserving a surplus inventory. This waste includes waste of space for housing inventory, waste of rent for storage space, waste of transportation costs, waste caused from deterioration of housed products.

Motion waste is the cost of all the motion by person or machine that could be minimized. The previous example we demonstrated with the forklift and supply location is a great example of motion waste and optimization. Motion waste has many wasteful byproducts, including pollution, fuel waste from operating vehicles, maintenance repairs, and costs from equipment breaking down.

Accidents do happen, and they can be expensive. Defect waste management is the effort to identify and mitigate accidents and imperfections that lead to defective final products. Defects are costly as they need to be replaced, may have additional recycling costs, or may be a total loss of raw materials. Over-processing waste refers to any step of the manufacturing component that can be deemed unnecessary.

Examples include adding features users did not ask for Or polishing areas of a product that may not be visible to a user. Waiting waste is the cost of any step in the manufacturing processing that is slow and causes a delayed reaction to the final output.

Waiting causes expenses in lighting, heating, cooling, and the risk of materials, or contracts expiring. Transport waste is very similar to motion waste. Transport waste deals with external transport movement between multiple locations or third-party partnerships where motion deals with internal movement in the same location.

Software development entails shipping ideas into tangible user experiences that provide value to the customer. The software development value stream mapping flow stages are primarily concerned with cross-team communication.

The user requests a feature, product teams design functionality, engineers receive the design and build the software, and the software is shipped to the end user. Value stream management for software can be used to identify points of waste between these stages. The following is a list of seven types of waste found in software development or other creative work.

This occurs when software is pushed out in an incomplete state. It may happen due to a lack of complete specification, or lack of automated test coverage. Partially completed work also causes a cascade of other waste since additional work is needed to push more updates and fill in the missing functionality. Extra features are features directly not requested by users but cooked up internally on a hunch or speculation. Extra features may present themselves as well intentioned but often are a byproduct of a disconnect from actual customer needs.

Relearning waste can also occur from lack of internal documentation. If a software failure or outage occurs it is a best practice to investigate and document why the outage happened and how it was remedied.

If a failure occurs again and it has not been documented, there will need to be another investigation and remediation. By visualizing all elements that go into creating a product or service, organizations can apply lean principles to reduce waste in specific areas of their processes. Learning key Lean Six Sigma LSS tools can also help your career, by making you more attractive to new employers or enhancing the value you provide in your current workplace.

It is important to note, however, that value stream maps are excellent tools within the Lean Six Sigma methodology. Value stream maps can be created with flowchart software, and many products will have the core symbols necessary embedded within their symbol libraries.

The example below shows what a typical value stream map might look like:. Source: Wikipedia. However, you can also create value stream maps on a white board and include post-its with additional information. This kind of map may look something like this:. The purpose of value stream mapping is to maximize value and minimize waste in a number of different ways including:.

These ideas were originally put into practice by the highly regarded Toyota Production System some 70 years ago.