Value Stream Cheat Sheet
Agile Value Stream Crib Cheat Sheet
What is a Value Stream?
Definition: A value stream is the series of steps or activities an organization undertakes to deliver a product or service to the customer, from initial concept to delivery.
Goal: To maximize the value delivered to the customer while minimizing waste.
Types of Value Streams
Operational Value Stream: The steps involved in delivering products or services to customers (e.g., manufacturing, software delivery).
Development Value Stream: The processes used to develop new products or capabilities (e.g., research, design, development).
Key Components of a Value Stream
Customer: The end recipient of the product or service. The entire stream focuses on delivering value to them.
Value-Added Activities: Steps that directly contribute to creating or delivering a product/service that the customer is willing to pay for.
Non-Value-Added Activities (Waste): Actions that do not add value from the customer’s perspective, such as delays, rework, or excess inventory.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
Purpose: Visualizes the flow of materials and information through the value stream to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
Steps to Create a Value Stream Map:Identify the product/service: Choose the specific value stream to map.
Map current state: Outline the existing steps, including process times, delays, and information flow.
Identify waste: Look for non-value-adding activities such as overproduction, waiting, or unnecessary movement.
Create a future state map: Redesign the value stream to eliminate waste and optimize flow.
Implement improvements: Use the future state map as a guide for process improvement.
Common Types of Waste (Lean 7 Wastes)
Overproduction: Producing more than needed.
Waiting: Idle time or delays between processes.
Transportation: Unnecessary movement of materials or information.
Overprocessing: Doing more work than necessary or redundant steps.
Inventory: Excess materials or products that aren't immediately needed.
Motion: Unnecessary movements of people.
Defects: Rework or corrections due to errors.
Benefits of Value Streams
Improves efficiency: Helps identify and eliminate wasteful activities.
Enhances customer satisfaction: Focuses on delivering more value to the customer.
Streamlines processes: Provides a clear view of how work flows, leading to better resource allocation.
Encourages continuous improvement: Enables organizations to make incremental improvements to the value stream over time.
Key Metrics for Value Streams
Lead Time: The total time it takes to deliver a product or service from start to finish.
Cycle Time: The time spent on actual value-added activities.
Work in Progress (WIP): The amount of work currently being processed.
Throughput: The rate at which the value stream delivers products or services.
When to Use Value Stream Mapping
Process inefficiencies: When there are bottlenecks, delays, or excessive waste.
Lean transformation: As part of a lean initiative to optimize processes.
Customer dissatisfaction: If customers are unhappy with delivery times, quality, or cost.
This cheat sheet provides a quick overview of value streams, helping you understand their importance and how to optimize them.
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