Transforming Your Value Streams

Workbook

Value Stream Overview

Sheds some insight into what value stream mapping is as well as the steps to value stream mapping.

A workbook intended to accompany the Facilitator’s Guides for this course. This guide includes the Key
Points from the video, discussion items, quiz questions, and helpful tips. Using Gemba Academy’s online
learning content, any participant can use this workbook to facilitate learning in all courses.

July 2017
 Value Stream Overview
Review
What is a Value Stream?
• A value stream is all the steps, both _______________ and _______________, that are
required to take a product or service from raw material to the arms of the customer.
• Common examples of value streams include the overall request to fulfillment cycle, or
the material and information flow from the initial customer request to the moment we
collect the payment (the “_________________________” stream), and the cycle from
the time an idea is first conceptualized to the time it’s produced and launched to the
marketplace (“_________________________”)
• When we look at any process, we usually find a large amount of non-value-added activity
or waste (_______________), which takes up a huge amount of time compared to the
value-added time.
• The traditional improvement approach is to focus only on the _______________ portions
of the process. While this is not necessarily bad, it is better to focus on reducing the
waste first.
• If you need a refresher course on waste, please view our Seven Deadly Wastes
course.

What is Value Stream Mapping?

• Value stream mapping is a visual tool that helps us _______________ all the activities
required to receive and fulfill a request from our customer. It helps us see what is really
happening in a given process.
• Value stream mapping is not an activity you do in an office or conference room, but as
_______________ to the process as possible, so you can collect actual data and see the
current state of the process.
• It helps make the overall flow of material and information across the entire process
visible to people who normally manage individual functions, processes, or departments.
• The value stream map is a _______________ document, which is constantly updated
and added to as processes are improved.
• While a value stream map and a traditional flow map are superficially similar, flow maps
typically focus on _______________ flow exclusively, while value stream maps focus on
both material and information flow.

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 Value Stream Overview
3 Types of Value Stream Maps
• 3 categories of value stream maps are generally recognized:
• “_______________-level”: this covers the material and information flow within a
particular cell or production line.
• “_______________-level” or “Office-level”: this covers the flow within a factory or office.
Also called a “door-to-door” value stream map.
• “_______________” or “_______________-level”: this is focused on the flow across
several companies.
• We suggest starting with the “door-to-door” value stream, since this is where you have
the highest interest and influence, and it gives you the best overall view of the flow from
request to fulfillment.

How Value Stream Mapping is Useful

• Value stream mapping helps us visualize the overall process rather than a single
process; it provides a _______________ view of the value stream.
• It allows us to see from the perspective of our customers, both internal and external.
• It helps us see _______________ in a process, as well as the links between material
and information flow.
• It brings _______________ to the organization and provides blueprints for improvement
implementation while involving the people who actually do the work.
• It provides us with a common language for talking about processes, while allowing us the
ability to work with _______________ instead of emotions or hunches.
• It helps us focus on the process, not just the product. It gives us the ability to assign
_______________ to problems in a fact-based manner.
• Value stream mapping is very effective as it relates to _______________ or
_______________ selection. In fact, it’s not unusual for several projects or point kaizen
events to be identified after a current & future state value stream map is completed.

The 8 Steps to Value Stream Mapping

1. Understand the strategic need for flow from an _______________ level. When the
value stream approach is chosen, develop the message and communication plan when
the value stream approach is chosen. This helps everyone how value stream

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 Value Stream Overview
mapping is linked to business needs at executive level.
2. Identify primary _______________. We will discuss specific tools for selecting product
families in a later module, such as product routings and product quality analysis.
3. Draw the _______________ state Value Stream Map. Go to gemba and create the
current state VSM. Although this could look intimidating, you will understand when the
course is over. It is important to draw the process as it actually is, not how it is
supposed to work.
4. Draw the _______________ state Value Stream Map. This represents the ideal
condition, which is normally achieved in 2 to 3 months. This should answer the question
“where do we want to be when we get there?”
• Don’t let the lean tools at your disposal limit you. Understand what world-class
performance metrics are, and what the ideal state for your business is.
• “Continuous state”: lean is a _______________ journey. Once you’ve achieved your
goal, you’re not done; in fact, when you reach your first target, you will probably find
another one to climb.
5. Create detailed _______________. We will cover this in more detail later.
• This step is often skipped by those attempting their first value stream map, but it is
the single most important step in the VSM process. Without this step, we’ve just
drawn pretty pictures on the wall.
6. Appoint a VSM _______________. The VSM manager breaks through barriers to get all
departments to think as one company. This role is crucial, since most organizations
typically operate in functional silos.
7. Communication. It’s important to communicate what you’ve learned
______________________________ value stream mapping an area.
• It’s natural for people to become nervous or weary after all the hustle and bustle a
value stream mapping exercise brings with it. The only way to combat this anxiety is
to have open & honest communication
8. Map _______________ value streams. Repeat steps 1-7 for all other product families.
This could take months or even years, but the rewards for doing so are immense.

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 Value Stream Overview
Quiz
1. One of the most common examples of a value stream is the call to __________ time period.
cash
return
invoice
shipment

2. What phrase best describes a value stream map?

never changes once it’s first created
is updated many times after it’s first created

3. Which highlighted area of the value stream map signifies material flow? Please mark the
area on the image below.

4. Which of the following are types of value stream maps? Select all that apply.
Process Level (cell level)
Factory Level (door to door)
Enterprise Level
Atomic Level

5. A manufacturing engineer just beginning his or her lean journey should always start by
mapping an Enterprise-level value stream.
True
False

6. The first step of the value stream mapping process is to understand the strategic need for
_______________.

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 Value Stream Overview
7. The Japanese word “Gemba” means:
To level or smooth production
To flow one piece at a time
To pull
The actual place or the place the work is done

8. Please number the following into the correct sequence.

___ Map the Future State
___ Map the Current State
___ Create a Detailed Action Plan
___ Select Product Family to Map

9. The value stream manager is responsible for _______________ functional boundaries.

10. Our “dream state” as continuous improvement practitioners. This is the state we are all
ultimately aiming for but will likely never reach.
Intermediate state
Current state
Ideal state
Future state

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 Value Stream Overview
Reflection
How do you think your organization can benefit from mapping your value streams?
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How could you benefit personally from mapping your value streams?
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Are there any processes that need attention which you and your team could map?
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