The mygyaan practical guide · Lean
VSM: see the whole journey, including the waiting
Map material and information flow from request to delivery. Build a current-state picture, design a future state and turn it into an improvement plan.
Try it in your workValue Stream Mapping (VSM) connects the movement of material or service work with the information that tells people what to do next. It helps a team see how the entire delivery system behaves, rather than optimising isolated steps.
A conventional process map can describe a sequence of activities. A value-stream view also asks about demand, queues, timing, scheduling and the relationship between steps. A beautiful diagram is not the objective; a shared understanding and an improvement plan are.
Illustrative quotation flow
Information signal: customer request → costing instruction → approval decision
Request complete
Observe work time and any queue before this step.
Prepare cost
Observe work time and any queue before this step.
Review & approve
Observe work time and any queue before this step.
Send quotation
Observe work time and any queue before this step.
01 / Value Stream Mapping
Choose a manageable boundary
Start with one product or service family that follows a recognisable route. State the customer, start event and finish event. Do not mix unrelated products into an average flow that nobody actually experiences.
Manufacturing example
Follow a family of fabricated brackets from order release through cutting, bending, finishing and dispatch. Show the scheduling signal, material queues and inspection feedback.
Service example
Follow a maintenance quotation from a complete customer request to an approved offer sent. Show missing-information loops, cost review and approval queues.
02 / Value Stream Mapping
Walk the current state
Observe work where it happens and ask the people doing it. Record actual conditions, the observation period and uncertainty. Separate a measured fact from an estimate.
Material or work flow
Record process stages, queues, handoffs and rework loops. Where is work sitting, and what must happen before it moves?
Information flow
Show who releases work, how customer demand arrives and which messages or systems trigger production. Conflicting schedules can create waste even when machines perform well.
Useful process data
Depending on the process, capture cycle time, changeover time, uptime, queue size and first-pass quality. Define each measure and keep units consistent.
03 / Value Stream Mapping
Keep time definitions honest
End-to-end lead time includes waiting within your chosen boundary. Processing time describes work being performed. In repetitive manufacturing, cycle time often describes the repeat interval of work at a process; it is not automatically the same measure as elapsed cycle time on a service Kanban board. Write down definitions before comparing numbers.
Do not assume all touch time creates value
Re-entering data, correcting defects and producing an unused report take effort but may not create customer value. Separate value-creating work, currently necessary support work and avoidable waste.
Use demand responsibly
Takt time relates available production time to customer demand over the same period. It is a planning reference, not permission to force an unsafe pace or ignore variation.
04 / Value Stream Mapping
Design a future state—and act
Use the current-state evidence to choose changes: improve information at entry, bring disconnected steps into flow, define pull where flow is not possible or remove repeated approvals. A future state is a proposed target, not a claim that the benefit has already happened.
Give the map an implementation plan
For each change, name an owner, first experiment, review date and measure. Pilot before scaling; review customer delivery, quality and workload, not only local utilisation.
Return to the real work
Check whether work actually moves differently. Update the map as conditions change. A map left on a wall cannot sustain an improvement by itself.
Read · Reflect · Apply
Try this with your team
- 1.Choose one order or request and define its start and finish.
- 2.Sketch the actual stages with the team; add the queues between them.
- 3.Draw the information signals above the flow. Mark missing or conflicting instructions.
- 4.Pick one delay to investigate. Propose a test with an owner, review date and observable outcome.