The path to lean management winds along the value stream, often known to take some unexpected twists and turns. So it helps to have a map.

Value-stream mapping looks at all the processes and materials that go into delivering goods or services to market, spotting those that add value and those that produce waste. The object is to detect and eliminate the hazards of low productivity that impede the flow of value.

Office and Factory
As useful in an office as it is on a factory floor, value-stream mapping tracks an identifiable object from start to finish as it progresses through the chain of business processes. That object might be an engine component in a factory, a purchase order in a procurement department, a patient in a trauma center, or a help-desk service ticket in a computer support operation.

Simple or Sophisticated
Mapping tools can be as simple as a pencil, paper, and clipboard, or as sophisticated as advanced software applications that use graphics and color coding to aid in visualizing obstructions in the flow of value. Either way, the resulting map, exposing what lean technique analysts call "the current state," is the first step in design of a "future state" map, showing the way to eliminate obstructions that add cost without contributing to value.

Direct Observation
Direct observation is at the heart of value-stream mapping, so that every stage of flow will be included. Otherwise, experts say, it’s easy to miss waste. Maps based on interviewing are unreliable because even honest efforts by those directly involved in the work process to recall every detail are likely to be incomplete. When balky computer systems or poorly designed workstations are literally part of the furniture of the workplace, employees may not even think to mention them in describing their work routine.

Later Analysis
Even for someone devoting full attention to direct observation, the ability to spot the waste in ordinary processes is not automatic. That’s why charting each stage of operations is such an important part of value-stream mapping. The record created by the painstaking detail of such a map provides resources for later analysis of opportunities for work-flow improvements, just as cartographic efforts of early mariners inspired later explorers to try new routes.

Types of Waste
Waste revealed in value-stream mapping can be as straightforward as overproduction, unnecessary delays, or needless motion. Or it can be as intangible as lost knowledge, accumulation of useless information, blocked communication, wishful thinking, or the waste of human talent. Whatever the shortcoming, the first step in eliminating its impact on your business is identifying the problem.