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Application of value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time
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DOI: 10.1080/09537280512331325281

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 Production Planning & Control
The Management of Operations

ISSN: 0953-7287 (Print) 1366-5871 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tppc20

Application of value stream mapping for lean

operations and cycle time reduction: an Indian
case study

Dinesh Seth & Vaibhav Gupta

To cite this article: Dinesh Seth & Vaibhav Gupta (2005) Application of value stream mapping
for lean operations and cycle time reduction: an Indian case study, Production Planning &
Control, 16:1, 44-59, DOI: 10.1080/09537280512331325281

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 Production Planning & Control,
Vol. 16, No. 1, 1 January, 2005, 44–59

Application of value stream mapping for lean

operations and cycle time reduction:
an Indian case study
DINESH SETHy* and VAIBHAV GUPTAz
yNational Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Vihar Lake Road, Mumbai – 400 087, India
zS/O Dr K. C. Gupta, 43 HIG, ADA Colony, Mamfordganj, Allahabad – 211 002 (UP), India
Downloaded by [Qatar University] at 04:19 19 October 2015

For the last few years almost every manufacturing industry has been trying to get ‘lean’.
A headlong rush to offer value to the customers by becoming lean and responsive has created
an urgency for researchers and practitioners to apply new tools and techniques to address
various wastes. The process of mapping the material and information flows of all components
and sub-assemblies in a value stream that includes manufacturing, suppliers and distribution
to the customer is known as value stream mapping (VSM). VSM has proved effective in
identifying and eliminating wastes in a facility with similar or identical product routings,
such as in assembly facilities. In this paper, an attempt has been made to use VSM as a
technique to achieve productivity improvement at supplier end for an auto industry. Both
current and future (‘as is’ and ‘to be’) states of supplier shopfloor scenarios are discussed using
value stream concepts. This is analysed along with takt time calculations and the application
of other gap areas. Finally, gain in production output per person, reduction of work in process
and finished goods inventory affecting productivity are also reported.

Keywords: Value stream mapping; Productivity; Cycle time; Takt time; Supplier

1. Introduction ductivity and rework problems with a supplier mean

For over a decade, there has been an increasing interest
in the leaner and more responsive operations along with
reduction in cycle time to improve performance across
the entire business network. After streamlining their
internal processes, companies are now exploring the
optimization of their relationships with their business
partners. The performance of any particular participant
in a chain depends to a large extent on the behaviour of
other participants, e.g. productivity and quality issues at
supplier end, vendor-managed inventory (VMI), coordi-
nation requirement and overall planning of resources at
various ends to meet fluctuating demand. Quality, pro-
that the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will
have to keep a large safety stock and more inspec-
tions will have to be carried out before the product
is dispatched. This means more delays and waste.
Participants in the chain would rely on a ‘play-safe ten-
dency’ and this will create a dragging effect for overall
competitiveness. The performance of each participant of
the chain is important and for this it is necessary to view
the chain as a whole. Take the case of inbound suppliers;
they will have to be flexible so that they could change
their daily/hourly supply schedules as per the daily/
hourly production schedules of the OEM and could
then ensure the lowest cost of supply. An attempt has

*Corresponding authors. Email: dineshtseth@rediffmail.com

Production Planning & Control
ISSN 0953–7287 print/ISSN 1366–5871 online # 2005 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09537280512331325281
 Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
been made in this paper for cycle time reduction and
lean operations using value stream mapping (VSM) to
meet hourly demand at the assembly line of XYZ
(OEM) so that the hourly supply of motorcycle frames
from ABC Ltd (a dedicated supplier to XYZ) could be
consistent. An attempt has also been made to improve
the productivity of supplier ABC Ltd as to meet the
daily requirement of about 2,000 motorcycle frames of
model M with an existing set-up of two-jig lines and a
cluster of robot welding.
Jones and Womack (2000) define value stream map-
ping as ‘the simple process of directly observing the
flows of information and materials as they now occur
summarising them visually and then envisioning a
future state with much better performance’. This helps
in planning and linking lean initiatives through
systematic data capture and analysis. This unique
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mapping concept helps to visualize the station cycle
times, inventory at each stage (WIP), manpower and
information flow across the supply chain.
The current (or ‘as is’) status is mapped to capture
a snapshot of how things are done and where the
improvement potentials lie. Future or ‘to be’ state map
is also discussed to show how things should to be done
considering takt time requirements.
2. Literature review
Womack et al. (1990) coined the term ‘lean production’
in their book The Machine That Changed the World.
Lean production (also known as ‘lean manufacturing’
or just ‘lean’) refers to a manufacturing paradigm
based on the fundamental goal of continuously minimiz-
ing waste to maximize flow. This concept originated
in Japan after the Second World War when Japanese
manufacturers realized that they could not afford the
huge investments required to build facilities similar to
those in the USA. They chose an unconventional path to
reach greater heights. The Japanese started questioning
some of the basic business and manufacturing assump-
tions. Then began the long process of developing and
refining manufacturing processes to minimize waste in
all aspects of operations. Lean manufacturing initia-
tives, which are also known as the Toyota production
system (TPS), were originated by Ohno and Shingo at
Toyota (Shingo 1989). Initially these initiatives were
applied to remove wastes inside the organization and
were oriented fundamentally to productivity improve-
ment rather than quality. The main reason which was
debated at that time, and is still valid today, is
‘Improved productivity leads to leaner operations
which help to expose further wastes and quality pro-
blems in the system’. Thus, the systematic attack on
45
waste is also a systematic assault on the factors under-
lying poor quality and fundamental management pro-
blems (Bicheno 1991). In the internal manufacturing
context, another major contribution was made by
Monden (1993). He suggested a new scheme of classify-
ing operations into three generic categories as non-value
adding (NVA), necessary but non-value adding
(NNVA) and value adding (VA). This scheme proved
to be more generic and was extended to different areas.
Value stream and lean initiatives researchers have also
been exploring other avenues such as using the theory of
constraints, system dynamics, simulation, mathematical
and expert system-based approaches. The major focus
of their work is the same: how to minimize inventory
and to ensure its visibility in the pipeline in different
industrial scenarios, and country-specific conditions. In
this context, the work of Towill (1997) regarding the
principles of good practice for material flow engineering
and system design methodologies is important. Other
important works by Towill (1996, 1999) regarding the
design principles of supply chains are also often
reported.
The goal of lean manufacturing is to reduce waste in
human effort, inventory, time to market and manufac-
turing space to become highly responsive to customer
demand while producing quality products in the most
efficient and economical manner. This approach centres
around the elimination of waste. Waste takes many
forms and can be found at any time and in any place.
It may be found hidden in policies, procedures, process
and product designs, and in operations. Waste consumes
resources but does not add any value to the product.
Russell and Taylor (1999) define waste as anything
other than the minimum amount of equipment, effort,
materials, parts, space and time that are essential to add
value to the product.
Lean manufacturing combines the best features of
both mass and craft production: the ability to reduce
costs per unit and dramatically improve quality while
at the same time providing an ever wider range of
products and more challenging work (Womack et al.
1990). It has been established beyond doubt that the
organizations that have mastered lean manufacturing
methods have substantial cost and quality advantages
over those which are still practising traditional mass
production (Fleischer and Liker 1997).
If one extends the original concepts and definitions
given by Monden (1993) and Womack et al. (1990),
one finds that it is necessary to map both inter-company
and intra-company value-adding streams. Value stream
refers to those specifics of the firms that add value to the
product or service under consideration. It is a far
more focused and contingent view of the value-adding
process.
 46 D. Seth and V. Gupta
Lean manufacturing uses tools like one-piece flow,
visual control, Kaizen, cellular manufacturing, inven-
tory management, Poka yoke, standardized work,
workplace organisation and scrap reduction to reduce
manufacturing waste (Russell and Taylor 1999). Over
the years, many lean manufacturing tools to support
value stream have been developed and many more are
being proposed every day (Schonberger 1982, Dillon
1985, Womack et al. 1990, Sako 1992, Lamming
1993, Barker 1994, Liker et al. 1995, Cusumano and
Nobeoka 1998, Liker 1998, Childerhouse et al. 2000,
Feld 2000, Taylor and Brunt 2001). VSM tools were
popularized by Rother and Shook (1999). These
concepts are developed primarily with two require-
ments: one to understand the interdependence of one
function, department or even whole unit over an
other, and to capture a holistic view about a situation
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where the conventional industrial engineering recording
tools do not help much.
As the complexity of manufacturing and business
is growing newer, value stream tools are emerging.
Today, there exists a plethora of different tools
and techniques developed for different purposes and
waste reduction or elimination. Although several
researchers like New (1974, 1993), Forza et al. (1993),
Beesley (1994) and Jessop and Jones (1995) have
developed individual tools to understand different
value streams, regarding their overlapping nature
and use much more needs to be done. That is
why newer classification and application areas are
emerging.
The classification scheme suggested by Hines and
Rich (1997) about seven new mapping tools (namely,
process activity mapping, supply-chain response
matrix, production variety funnel, quality filter map-
ping, demand amplification mapping, decision point
analysis and physical structure mapping) regarding
their major application areas is very useful. Another
scheme of classification for lean manufacturing tools
and allied detailing proposed by Pavnaskar et al.
(2003) is also quite exhaustive. This scheme of classifica-
tion is structured around seven levels: system, object,
operation, activity, resource, characteristic and applica-
tion. Each level is linked systematically so that lean
manufacturing tools and metrics, or manufacturing
waste problems, are classified in a meaningful and
logical way. The classification scheme of Lamming
et al. (2000) regarding the classification of supply net-
works using lean concepts is also often reported.
Similarly, the contribution of Childerhouse et al.
(2000, 2002) regarding the analysis of the factors
affecting real-world value stream performance and its
audit is also significant. The research and application
scope increases many times as these tools can be applied
Table 1. Major value streams studied regarding supplier
interface.
Area of work Key contributors
Supplier relationship and Sako (1992), Lamming (1993),
number of suppliers Macbeth and Ferguson (1994)
Supplier delivery lead-time Womack et al. (1990),
Towill (1996, 1999)
Bought-out components Harland (1996),
Lamming et al. (2000)
Manufacturing lead-time Stalk and Hout (1990),
Towill (1996)
Customer base, locations Harland (1996),
Lamming et al. (2000)
Delivery frequency Ohno (1988),
Womack et al. (1990, 1994)
individually or in combination depending upon the
requirements of value streams in different areas such
as manufacturing or supply-chain management. Table 1
guides about the areas and key contributors in context
to supplier interface characteristics for different value
streams.
From the literature survey it is clear that not much
work in context to value stream studies regarding man-
ufacturing and delivery lead-times from the supplier side
has been reported in various journals.
This paper covers the application of value stream
mapping as a tool to improve the cycle time and
productivity at the supplier end. Despite the direct
threat from cheaper manufacturing bases, the Indian
two-wheeler industry (particularly the motorcycle seg-
ment) is constantly growing. Suppliers are under tre-
mendous pressure to meet increasing demand. In this
context, any analytical study using new concepts like
value stream mapping to improve the productivity of
inbound supply chains is highly significant.
3. XYZ motor company: problem and its business
consequences
The Indian automobile market mainly comprises five
players in the two-wheeler sector with most of the
companies having Japanese collaborative tie-ups. The
overall growth in the two-wheeler market during 2003
was seen to be due to a significant increase in
motorcycle sales. In the last four to five years, the
Indian two-wheeler market has witnessed a marked
shift towards motorcycles at the expense of scooters.
In rural areas, customers prefer sturdier bikes to
withstand the bad road conditions. The second impor-
 Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
tant factor is fuel efficiency of four-stroke bikes over
conventional two-stroke scooters. In the process, the
share of the motorcycle segment has grown from 48%
to 58%; the share of scooters declined drastically
from 33% to 25%. Considering the direct threat
from cheaper manufacturing bases and high inter-
nal competition, efficient performance is a must.
Companies have started looking critically at various
techniques and concepts to achieve overall cost effective-
ness. The companies have started developing new mod-
els, modifying existing ones, offering more variants
and are trying hard to reduce costs. In this context,
an attempt to improve productivity at the supplier end
is key to improving efficiency of the inbound chain as
a whole.
XYZ is a prominent player in the two-wheeler
market with nearly a 23.4% share (in 2003) across all
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the product categories. The four-stroke motorcycles
dominate the entire two-wheeler industry and XYZ
has a strong presence in this category through its
model M.
XYZ has many suppliers near its assembly plant
and it strongly believes in lean philosophy. One of
the key business partners, ABC Ltd, is a dedicated
supplier for XYZ. It manufactures motorcycle frames
for XYZ. Any problem regarding productivity at the
supplier end obviously affects productivity and
profitability at the XYZ end. With increasing demand
at XYZ, a supply of good quality frames is getting
difficult to manage, as the primary focus of ABC Ltd
is to meet the daily demand of XYZ. This increased
demand can be met by creating additional capacity,
i.e. operating with extra jig lines and a manual
welding set-up. But in the current scenario of fluctu-
ating demand it may not be a viable solution. One
will have to incur extra labour costs and overheads,
which in turn will have cumulative dragging effects on
the efficiency of the manufacturing chain of OEM.
Similarly, high levels of work in process (WIP) at
various locations will not only affect the liquidity
but also necessitate a ‘play-safe’ tendency for both
parties.
4. Value stream mapping for a current or ‘as is’ state
Value stream mapping is different than conventional
recording approaches as it helps in the visualization
of station cycle times, inventory buffers at intermediate
stations, manpower deployment, uptime or utilization of
resources and the information flow in the given area. It
captures the entire transformation from raw materials to
the reach of finished goods. It takes care of both value-
47
added and non-value-added activities. This mapping is
done with a pencil and paper using icons for various
agencies to visualize the flow of material and infor-
mation as a product advances. Before mapping, one
should be very clear about the lean management princi-
ples which form the backbone of VSM. These principles
are: Define value from your customer’s perspective;
Identify the value stream; Eliminate the seven deadly
wastes; Make the work flow; Pull the work rather than
push it; and Pursue to perfection level. The major steps
involved in mapping are as follows.
An A3 size (or 11
17 inch) ledger size paper is
taken and icons are drawn representing customer,
supplier and production control, with sufficient space
in between them. Entries are made to prepare a data
box below the icons to capture the monthly/daily
requirements of each product along with the number
of containers and Kanbans required in unit time.
Next, shipping and receiving data are entered along
with the icons for the truck using direction arrows for
the movement. Then the manufacturing/assembly
operations are drawn along the bottom of the map,
with the most upstream process on the left and the
most downstream process on the right. This follows
the entry of process attributes like uptime, changeover
etc. in proper units. It is essential to capture the
information flow, both electronic and manual. For
this communication, arrows are drawn between the
parties concerned. Next, inventory icons are drawn
along with the quantities, in the places where the
inventory is stored between processes. The last major
step includes the drawing of push, pull and first-
in-first-out (FIFO) locations. If a process is producing
to a schedule independent of the downstream process
this indicates that push is being practised. Other
scenarios may include some combination of pull
and FIFO. In this way, this mechanism serves as a
starting point to help management, engineers, suppli-
ers and customers to recognize ‘waste and its sources’.
Taking a value stream perspective means working
on the big picture and improving the whole, not just
individual processes.
Concepts of value stream provide both a picture of
the current state of affairs as well as a guide about
the gap areas. Thus it helps in visualizing how things
would work when some improvements/changes
are incorporated. Addressal of gap areas in the
existing state results in a roadmap for improvement.
Figure 1 represents the detailed mapping of the
current or existing state at the supplier end. For the
sake of clarity, the processes starting from fine boring
to gauging are shown separately as figure 2. For
drawing these figures a detailed time and motion
study was carried out to capture individual station
 48
2nd tier Monthly forecast
Weekly schedule 1st tier

Planning dept. ABC Weekly schedule XYZ Motor

Supplier
Ltd, Co.
3-day requirement
Daily requirement
1,800 frames
Down tube
sub-assy Trolley (one)
=12 frames
6,000 nos.
3 shifts
Downloaded by [Qatar University] at 04:19 19 October 2015

Unload truck at
Daily schedule Daily schedule DP area
2x
Week

30x
Daily

D. Seth and V. Gupta

360 Dispatch
frames
Oiling
Stores ST 1 Jig I Jig II Jig III 1 2
C/T 60

60 3 Shifts
Raw material
Tube frame body = 180 CT 42 sec frames 30
Sub-assy Insp- Robot frames 6
Throttle switch = 180 Uptime 80% frames
Boring
ection cluster
Brackets Regulator mtg. bkt= 180 Revic- and
X2 3 shifts A welding
Swing arm boss = 180 ing gauging
Consumables Boss bkt pedal =180 700
∼ 2 hrs inventory frames
CT 33 sec CT 47.5 CT 45 sec
10 CT 40 sec
frames 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts
3 shifts
ST 1 Jig 1 Jig 2 Jig 3 1 2 Uptime 2 robot clusters Uptime
Uptime
100% with CT 95 sec 90%
100%
Uptime 85%
3 days 4 hrs 0.11 hrs 0.66 hrs 0.33 hrs 0.06 hrs Production lead-
33 sec 47.5 sec 547 sec 60 sec time 3.215 days
213 sec 40 sec
Processing time
15.67 min

Figure 1. Current state of site.

 Visual inspection Visual inspection
& marking (a) & marking (b)
Fine Boring ECN welding Re-welding (a) Re-welding (b)

Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
6 frames
0 frames 0 frames 0 frames 0 frames 0 frames
Downloaded by [Qatar University] at 04:19 19 October 2015

CT = 45 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 35 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 40 sec

Up time = 90% 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts

3 shifts

0 frames

Gauging and inspection

Spatter cleaning
re-tapping Re-tapping

FI G VI GV G IV G III G II GI

700 frames 0 frames 1O frames

CT = 53 sec CT = 39 sec

Final insp. Gauge VI Gauge V Gauge IV Gauge III Gauge II Gauge I 3 shifts 3 shifts

CT = 38 sec CT = 30 sec CT = 32 sec CT = 32 sec CT = 25 sec CT = 28 sec CT = 30 sec

3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts

Figure 2. Current state of boring and gauging area.

49
 50 D. Seth and V. Gupta

activities and timings for the same. Detailed acti-
vities and station timings of the existing frame manu-
facturing process of supplier ABC Ltd is given in
appendix A.
From the figures it is clear that VSM shows the var-
ious important process details like station cycle time,
uptime and time available in each shift in rectangular
boxes. Inventory piled up at various stages is repre-
sented by triangles containing the letter ‘I’. It also
describes information flow (both electronic and paper)
between OEM and first- and second-tier suppliers. The
most important point about this is that it summarizes
information about actual value-adding time (i.e. total
processing time) and total production lead-time. The
holistic visualization of different times and other factual
findings gives an actual trigger and offers a challenge for
improvement.
Downloaded by [Qatar University] at 04:19 19 October 2015
of 129 per day with a production output of 13.95
frames per worker. Actual processing time or the
real value-adding time for the existing process is
15.67 minutes, whereas production lead-time is 3.215
days as shown in figure 1. High work in process
inventory of 466 frames for the station’s jig line,
inspection, robotized welding, revising, fine boring
and spatter cleaning is also observed. Also, finished
goods inventory is 700 frames, which is there to
take care of poor ordering policy or the play-safe
tendency of OEM.
It must be very clear that cycle time conceptually
refers to ‘execution’ of an act or process. Lead-time
refers to ‘planning’ of an act or process. Takt time refers
to ‘synchronization’ of the pace of one process or
act with the pace of other process or act. Therefore,
sometimes it is also known as rate output.

The thrust from OEM XYZ is always to make whole

inbound supply leaner through value stream initiatives.
The inbound supply of XYZ consists of 83. First-tier
5. Analysis of the current state suppliers and 430 second-tier suppliers. To make the
whole supply leaner cannot be seen from one supplier’s
For the analysis of existing status, a few assumptions are perspective. However, synchronization between XYZ
made. Regarding demand from XYZ it is assumed that and ABC can be achieved by taking care of capacities
maximum demand may reach up to 2,000 frames per at ABC. But it will not be a long-term solution,
day. This is derived from past sales data at XYZ. The especially when XYZ is looking for value-based lean
current state map captures information at a particular initiatives in the whole supply.
instance, which may vary from shift to shift. For the
sake of analysis the shift and operator-wise variation
(which may be there) is not considered. Store inventory
Table 3. Details of existing frame manufacturing process.
levels are different for different raw materials and vary
with different suppliers of ABC Ltd. For the analysis
purpose inventory levels are considered for three days’ Measure Unit Current position
requirements. Production output per man Frames/man 13.95
Tables 2 and 3 represent various details regarding Manpower Numbers/day 129
the current state of the frame manufacturing In-process inventory Frames 466
process at ABC Ltd. These details are obtained from Finished goods inventory Frames 700
the VSM of current or ‘as is’ status as shown in Production lead-time Days 3.215
Processing time Minutes 15.67
figures 1 and 2. Current process requires manpower

Table 2. Calculations for figures 1 and 2 (current state of site).

Place/Station (unit) Processing time (sec) Production lead time (hrs) In-process inventory (no.)
Raw material stores — 72 0
Jig lines 213 4 360
Inspection 33 0.11 10
Robot welding 47.5 0.66 60
Revicing (processing) 40 0.33 30
Boring and gauging 547 0.06 6
Oiling/Dispatch 60 — FG inv. ¼ 700
Total 940.5 77.16 466
Total (relevant units) 15.675 min 3.215 days 466 nos.
Scale for inventory, 90 frames or equivalent raw material ¼ 1 hr inventory.
 Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
The best way out is to achieve target takt time at peak
demand, which is derived from market requirement
of motorcycles manufactured by XYZ. Therefore, in
context to ABC Ltd it refers to pace of production
with the pace of demand at XYZ. In the given circum-
stances, takt time is a better measure over cycle time and
lead-time. As XYZ was demanding an hourly rate sup-
ply, therefore in context to ABC Ltd takt time was
chosen as a reference number. This number gives a
sense for the rate at which a process should be produ-
cing. It helps to see how one is doing and what needs to
be improved. ‘Takt’ is a German word for a musical
beat or rhythm. Takt time is the rate at which a com-
pany must produce a product to satisfy customer
demand. It is calculated by dividing available working
time per day (in seconds) to customer demand per day
(in units). After considering the lunch and tea breaks for
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all the shifts, for a target daily production of 2,000
frames the takt time is computed and it is 40 seconds.
This takt time means that ABC Ltd needs to produce a
frame every 40 seconds from its assembly line. As men-
tioned earlier, a time and motion study was also done to
establish individual station cycle times. A graphical
comparison of station cycle times against the takt time
guides about the improvement areas.
As figure 3 suggests, jig 3, robot welding, fine boring,
spatter cleaning and oiling are the processes which have
station cycle times more than takt time. To synchronize
takt time with these station cycle times, these stations
require detailed investigation (see appendix A).
Similarly, for some of the stations, cycle time is less
than takt time, which indicates the potential areas for
manpower saving.
In this way, using value stream concepts, the
current state of frame manufacturing process at first-
tier (ABC Ltd) and second-tier suppliers are analysed
and potential areas of improvement are worked upon.
For the stations, which had station cycle time more
than takt time, causes of WIP piling were investigated.
Similarly, total value-adding time of frame manufactur-
ing, i.e. total processing time, was compared with total
production lead-time.
6. Proposed changes for future state along
with benefits realized
Acting upon the gap areas identified by the value
stream mapping of the existing state, some changes
were proposed as indicated in figures 4 and 5. Supplier
ABC Ltd was asked to fulfil hourly demand instead of
supplying shift-wise. It was requiring a high degree of
information flow and coordination to fulfil hourly
demand. To track hourly demand at XYZ, a Kanban
51
system was introduced between XYZ and ABC Ltd, as
it helped to foster proper information flow regarding
demand. It was suggested that withdrawal Kanban
should flow from planning department to dispatch.
Similarly, the production Kanban was suggested
flowing from dispatch to raw material store, as shown
in figure 4. The Kanban system brought the necessary
schedule and delivery discipline. This was necessary to
ensure the functioning of raw material store and
dispatch like a supermarket. This system also reduced
the manpower requirement to track the demand and
inventory at XYZ and communicating the same at the
supplier end.
It was also observed that inventory was high in the
assembly line of supplier. ABC Ltd was holding three
days’ inventory in the store because of poor communi-
cation and a play-safe tendency. Electronic information
flow was introduced for both first-tier and second-tier
suppliers of XYZ. It helped in reducing order quantity
and inventory at raw material stores. Implementation of
milk-run discipline introduced between ABC Ltd and its
suppliers reduced transportation costs. These changes
reduced inventory levels in raw material store from
three days to half a day, as shown in figure 4, which
was quite significant. This also helped in making
whole supply chain lean and flexible.
To synchronize station cycle time with a takt time of
40 seconds and to reduce manpower requirement at
jig lines, two jig lines were brought closer, as shown in
figure 4. This led to reduction in manpower from 20
to 15 on jig lines. To improve jig utilization, the use of
a rotating hanger stand was also suggested. This helped
in easy picking and placing of frames on jig lines. Due
to a lack of necessary technical know-how regarding
a robotized welding station, it was decided to indirectly,
synchronize its cycle time with takt time. For this, one
additional welding booth for manual welding was
proposed. Quality difference in manual and robotized
welding was taken care of by deploying a highly
skilled worker for this job. It was also found that the
utilization of robotised welding set-up was not high, due
to a poor wire-feeding mechanism. Minor modifications
in the nozzle and pressure unit started helping in
the continuous and uniform feeding of wire. This
greatly improved the utilization of the wire-feeding
mechanism.
To maintain continuous flow and to improve the
performance at the fine boring machine, station cycle
time was reduced to 40 seconds using an improved
fixture. To accommodate excess station cycle time at
spatter cleaning, additional deployment of one worker
was suggested. This change reduced the station cycle
time of 53 seconds to that of takt time. Similarly, by
regrouping various activities of gauging and inspection
 52
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D. Seth and V. Gupta

Figure 3. Current state of manufacturing for comparison between takt time and station time.
 2nd tier 1st tier Monthly forecast
forecas
Weekly schedule
Planning dept ABC
Ltd Weekly schedule XY Motor
XYZ
Supplier
Co.
3
3-day requirement

Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
Daily requirement
2,000 frames
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Trolley (one) =12

frames

3 shifts
22 hrs 15min
KA
Kanban Kanban available
Daily
milk

30x
daily
0
Frames 0
Robot Frames
Down tube 0 Dispatch
cluster
sub-assy Frames
ST1
ST-1 JigI
Jig-I JigII
Jig-II Jig-III 1 2 welding
Insp
Raw ection Boring
material Revicing &
and
nA
A Oiling
gauging 360
Sub-assy ST-1 JigI
Jig-I Ji
Jig-II Ji
Jig-III 1 2 frames
90
frames CT 33 sec Manual CT 40 sec
Brackets welding
Takt 40 sec Takt 40
40ssec
CT 40 sec
Consumable 3 shifts CT 40 3 shifts
Shifts
Takt 40 sec CT 35 sec
Uptime Takt 40 sec
Uptime 80% Takt 40
40sec
sec
100% Robot uptime 90%
3 shifts
Shifts Manual uptime
3 shifts
Shifts
100%
Kanban 3 shifts
Production lead
0.5 day 1 hr 0. hrs 0 hrs 0 hrs 0 hrs 0 hrs time = 13 hrs

200 sec 33 sec 40 sec 40 sec 505 sec 30 sec Processing time -
14.13 min

Figure 4. Future state of site.

53
 54
Visual inspection Visual inspection
& marking (a) & marking (b)
Fine boring ECN welding Re-welding (a) Re-welding (b) Re-tapping

0 frames 0 frames 0 frames 0 frames 0 frames 0 frames

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Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec Takt = 40 sec

C/T = 35 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 40 sec CT =35 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 40 sec CT = 40 sec

Up-time = 100 Up-time = 100 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts Up-time = 100

3 shifts 3 shifts 3 shifts

D. Seth and V. Gupta

Gauging and inspection

Spatter cleaning

FI G IV G III G II GI

360 frames 0 frames

Takt = 40 sec

Takt =40 sec CT = 35 sec

CT = 40 sec(each) 3 shifts

Uptime = 100%

3 shifts

Figure 5. Future state of boring and gauging area.

 Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction
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Figure 6. Future state of manufacturing for comparison between takt time and station time.

55
 56 D. Seth and V. Gupta

Table 4. Calculations for figures 4 and 5 (future state of site).

Place/Station Processing time Production lead time In-process inventory

(unit) (sec) (hrs) (no.)
Raw material stores — 12 0
Jig lines 200 1 90
Inspection 33 0 0
Robot welding 40 0 0
Revicing (processing) 40 0 0
Boring and gauging 505 0 0
Oiling/Dispatch 30 — FG inv. ¼ 360
Total 848 13 90
Total (relevant units) 14.13 min 13 hrs 90 nos.
Scale for inventory, 90 frames or equivalent raw material ¼ 1 hr inventory.

Table 5. Existing versus proposed process.

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Measure Unit Current Proposed

Production output per man Frames/man 13.95 17.54
Manpower in jig line and inspection station Number of men per day 63 51
Manpower in robotized set-up and finishing stations Number of men per day 66 63
Manpower Numbers/day 129 114
In-process inventory Frames 466 90
Finished goods inventory Frames 700 360
Production lead-time Days 3.215 0.54
Processing time Minutes 15.67 14.13

and maintaining cycle time equal to takt time resulted
in a saving of manpower by three in number. Oiling
process time was also reduced from 60 seconds
to 30 seconds by introducing a spray gun facility.
After incorporating the above changes, overall balance
in frame manufacturing process can be seen in figure 6.
This figure between takt time and station cycle time
shows the impact of improvement and the changes in
the process.
The calculations from figures 4 and 5 along with
benefits achieved are summarized in tables 4 and 5.
These are clear indications that production output per
worker has improved to 17.54 frames from 13.95 frames.
Production lead-time is reduced significantly from 3.215
days to 0.54 days and processing time is also reduced
from 15.67 to 14.13 minutes. High demand at XYZ is
easily achievable with reduction in both WIP and fin-
ished goods inventory in the supply chain. All these
proposed changes will lead to a significant
cost reduction at ABC Ltd, and hence it will also help
in reducing overall costs in the supply chain for OEM.
Now the supplier will be in a position to deliver at an
hourly rate, and high quality frames at lower cost,
which was also the requirement of a lean and responsive
environment.
While applying VSM concepts some precautions
should be observed. Since it gives a pictorial view of
the process at any particular instant of time, it may
capture the wrong picture at that particular instance,
which may mislead decision-makers. Second, VSM
only hints about the areas of improvements. It does
not discuss any rule of thumb to achieve the improve-
ments. Despite these shortcomings, it is a really
powerful concept. It links people, tools, metrics and
even reporting requirements to achieve lean enterprise.
It provides clear and concise communication between
management and shopfloor teams about lean expecta-
tions, along with actual material and information
flow. Thus, it allows everyone to understand and
continuously improve his or her understanding of lean
concepts.
7. Conclusions
Rother and Shook (1999) rightly argue that whenever
there is a product for a customer, there is a value stream.
The challenge lies in seeing and working on it. VSM can
be done in the same way for practically any business
activity and expanded upstream or downstream. This
 Value stream mapping for lean operations and cycle time reduction 57

powerful tool not only highlights process inefficiencies,
transactional and communication mismatches but also
guides about the improvement areas.
Due to competitive pressures, many manufacturing
organizations recognise the importance of becoming
lean. However, many are doing lean without necessarily
becoming lean. There is a difference between doing
lean and being lean. It is very unfortunate that many
manufacturers have failed to understand in their initial
excitement and eagerness to get started with the lean and
cycle time reduction approaches, is that implementing it
involves more than just applying individual concepts
like layout planning, visual control, Kanban and takt
time calculations. Typically, such organizations sporadi-
cally implement improvements without linking their
efforts to an overarching framework. All the appropri-
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ate tools and concepts must be used in such a way that
everyone connected within the value stream could work
together to improve overall flow to the customer with
little or no waste.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their sincerest thanks to the
learned referees for their constructive criticisms that led
to the considerable improvement of the earlier version of
this paper. We also wish to put on record our indebted-
ness to the editor Dr S.J. Childe and the co-editor
Dr R.P. Mohanty, for their timely help and giving us
an opportunity to revise the paper.

Details of existing frame manufacturing process.

Worker activity Time (sec)
Sr. Man Station cycle
no. Station Input material Worker 1 Worker 2 nos. W-1 W-2 m/c time (sec)
1 Stn 1 Tube frame body Load, weld, pass Pick, weld, 2 37.5 25 — 37.5
pass
Throttle switch
Regulator mtg bkt
Swing arm boss
Boss bkt pedal
2 Jig 1 Stn 1 o/p Pick, weld both Load, unload 2 40 37 — 40
Down tube s/assy sides
Bridge tube s/assy
Head pipe s/assy
3 Jig 2 Jig 1 o/p Load, weld Load, weld, 2 37.5 25 — 37.5
Upper tube s/assy L&R unload
Bridge bkt pillion s/assy
Reinforcement L&R s/assy
4 Jig 3 Jig 2 o/p Load, weld Load, weld, 2 42 29 — 42
Bkt air cleaner mtg (3 bkt) unload
Bkt battery box mtg (3 nos.)
Bkt tail cover mtg (2 nos.)
Bkt seat tail cover mtg (2 nos.)
Bkt side cover mtg (2 nos.)
5 Pre-robo 1 Frame structure Pick, weld, pass 1 28.5 — — 28.5
6 Pre-robo 2 Frame structure Pick, weld, put 1 27.5 — — 27.5
7 Inspection Frame structure Insp, queue 1 33 — — 33
8 Robot welding Frame structure Load, unload, 1 30 — 47.5 47.5
gauge
9 Revicing Frame structure Load, revice Revice, 2 40 40 — 40
unload
10 Fine boring Frame structure Load, unload, 1 40 45 45
gauge
11 ECN welding Frame structure þ brackets Pick, weld, pass 1 40 — — 40
12 Visual inspection Frame Pick, insp, pass 1 40 — — 40
and marking 1
13 Rewelding at Frame Pick, weld, 1 35 — — 35
marked places 1 unload
(Continued).
 58 D. Seth and V. Gupta

Continued.
Worker activity Time (sec)
Sr. Man Station cycle
no. Station Input material Worker 1 Worker 2 nos. W-1 W-2 m/c time (sec)
14 Visual inspection Frame Pick, insp, put 1 40 — — 40
and marking 2
15 Rewelding at Frame Pick, weld, 1 40 — — 40
marked places 2 unload
16 Retapping Frame 2 39 37 — 39
17 Spatter cleaning Frame Load, hammer Load, 2 53 51 — 53
hammer
18 Inspection gauge 1 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 30 — — 30
19 Inspection gauge 2 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 28 — — 28
20 Inspection gauge 3 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 25 — — 25
21 Inspection gauge 4 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 32 — — 32
22 Inspection gauge 5 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 32 — — 32
23 Inspection gauge 6 Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 30 — — 30
24 Final inspection Frame Pick, gauge, pass 1 38 — — 38
25 Oiling Frame Oil by cloth 1 60 — — 60
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Load ¼ means job to be placed on a pneumatic fixture/welding booth.

Unload ¼ means job to be removed from a pneumatic fixture/welding booth.
Pick ¼ means job to collected from floor/rotating stand/trolley and placed on a hanger fixture or welding booth.
Pass ¼ means job to be passed to next station in no time.
Gauge ¼ means job’s dimensions to be checked by gauges.
Put ¼ means job to be placed on floor/rotating stand/trolley.

Appendix A

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Dinesh Seth is Senior Faculty associated with NITIE (National Institute of Industrial
Engineering), Mumbai, India. He has more than 14 years professional experience of in the
areas of consultancy, training for executives, and teaching postgraduate and doctoral students.
Dr Seth has performed many assignments with leading industrial groups in India, viz. Reliance,
E-Merck, Aditya Birla Group, L&T etc. He has published many papers with leading national and
international journals like IJQRM. His book, titled Global Management Solutions: Demystified
(from JIT-II, TPM, 6-Sigma, QFD. . . to BPO, SCM, CRM, KM, ERP-II), is in press and is
being published by Thomson Learning, Singapore. This book covers the entire spectrum of
strategic operations management, also covering IT-based business solutions. It guides readers
through the basic essence of core, similarities, dissimilarities, limitations and implementation
issues about different management solutions using a unique well-balanced format. Dr Seth is
actively involved in the research areas of service and manufacturing operations management,
supply-chain management and quality management.

Vaibhav Gupta is currently associated with a Fortune 100 service sector MNC. He holds his
Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from MNREC Allahabad and post Graduate Diploma in
Industrial Engineering (PGDIE) with specialization in Operations and Supply Chain
Management from NITIE Mumbai. His industrial experience includes manufacturing and service
exposure with world class office automation, automobile and logistics companies. His areas of
interest include operations management and supply chain management in manufacturing and
service sectors.

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