Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is the process of documenting the steps a company takes to provide a product or service to the end customer. This post is about how Tanner Tees has used Value Stream Mapping and the benefits gained from that process. Keep in mind, Value Stream Mapping can be applied to service-based organizations, not just manufacturing.

Benefits

• Start/continue discussions about standards and processes
• Define lead times, output times, and quality standards (%C&A - percent complete and accurate)
• Quickly highlight the process(es) with the most lead time, process time, or quality issues
• Set future state goals based on the current state

When I started at Tanner Tees, the team had been building incredibly solid baseball batting tees for years. The challenge the business owners faced was that it looked like they had maxed out their production space and production capacity. They asked me to look at the processes, work with the team to define the current state of production, and recommend changes to improve both space utilization and production capacity.

Getting Started

Understanding the current state of an overall process is the first step to make any improvements. We took time to define the various production steps - where did work happen, when did it stop and wait for the next process, get picked up again, etc.

Once the various production steps were defined, the team spent time defining the process time (how long it took to accomplish a task) as well as the amount of work they received that was complete and accurate. This process got the team talking about standards within processes, process time averages, and quality expectations at every step. Below is the first Value Stream Map of our standard production processes. Labels have purposely been anonymized.

(First Value Stream Map. 15 processes on a legal sheet of paper)

Creating a Value Stream Map with the information captured from the team, we documented 15 separate steps required to produce our main product. We didn't formally document the wait time, but some subassemblies could wait as many as 5-6 business days from being built to moving to the next step. The visual map gave us a common view of the current state.

Once we understood the current state, we saw some of the challenges inherent in our current processes. To help the team tackle the challenges, the business owners invested in the team through various Lean Manufacturing training, book studies, and creation of project teams. Using the knowledge from the training and having a visual representation of our processes, along with data, we looked at techniques to consolidate processes and rearrange the production floor (moving closer to one-piece flow). Attacking non-value adding steps, standardizing processes, and leveling our production schedule helped tremendously. We also reduced our batch sizes and looked at different ways to tweak designs to improve quality and production speed. The first Value Stream Mapping exercise enabled us to begin designing our future state with purpose.

Where We Are Now

It's been about a year and a half since creating the first Value Stream Map. Having lived through the changes, it doesn't seem that dramatic. But when I look at the new current state Value Stream Map, the resulting map is almost unbelievable. We have done a lot of creative thinking, worked through trial and error, and completely transformed our processes. Below is the new current state Value Stream Map. We have reduced the processes from 15 to 6.

(Current Value Stream Map. Six processes)

We are now able to work more efficiently and product quality has never been better. Without changing our full-time employee roster, we now have the capacity to do more cross-training, work on special projects, and absorb future production demands. The space issues we were facing have been greatly reduced - to the point where the business owners are no longer considering a move to a larger facility. Value Stream Mapping, while not the only tool we used, was a foundational tool that helped us understand where we were, the bottlenecks and challenges, and focus on the most promising results. If you haven't taken the time to map out your processes, I highly recommend this exercise. It will transform how you see your business and, if used properly, will also transform how you deliver value to your customers.