Value Stream Mapping and Opportunity Assessment

Set your processes free from waste and inefficiency—with confidence

What you will learn
How you will learn

What you will learn

Overview

Although the aim of Value Stream Mapping is to find and eliminate all sources of waste in a process, most approaches fail to do this. Most rely on a round-robin style of waste identification that is grounded in the subjective experience of those working in the process. Most approaches don’t follow a strict and unambiguous definition of what constitutes waste and what doesn’t, thereby sub-optimizing the effort. Also, most approaches are limited in their ability to surface more widespread opportunities for improvement of the process under scrutiny.

BMGI’s approach is different. Rather than following an organic, whose-personality-is-the-strongest approach, we scrub out subjectivity and opinion, and we ensure that you vaccinate yourself from your own psychological inertia. This way, you can be sure that you’re not wasting any resource in your effort to root waste and inefficiency out of your process.

VSM and VSA training made a huge difference in our organization. Before we’d make improvements to one process as per the most pressing issue of the day, but this would cause bottlenecks in other processes—not really improving ultimate customer value. But BMGI taught us how to expertly examine our entire delivery system, set priorities, align all projects and utilize resources in a way that’s really making a difference for our customers and our business.

Danie Joubert
Business Improvement Leader Hulamin

Our approach ensures that you rely on undisputable data to identify the best opportunities for improvement (the opportunity assessment portion), listen most intently to the voice of the customer (not the loudest team member in the room) and define clear metrics by which to evaluate the success of your ensuing improvement projects against strategic objectives.

In short, BMGI’s Value Stream Mapping and Opportunity Assessment course enables you to cut through the fog and complexity of any process to definitively and comprehensively identify the true problems that are hindering better performance. These problems are then translated into various types of improvement projects that will garner the best return on investment.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Mine for improvement opportunities, identifying all possible problems through observation, not hearsay.
- Construct a current-state Value Stream Map
- Develop a data collection plan for the VSM.
- Conduct end-to-end assessment of value-added versus non-value-added activities
Scope opportunities by formulating project problem statements based on identified waste.
Prioritize projects based on strategic objectives.
Identify the proper problem-solving tools and methods for each project (for instance, rapid-improvement events, just-do-it interventions, structured innovation, Six Sigma, Lean).
Develop a pipeline and plan of which projects to execute in sequence and who will lead them.
Develop project charters for selected projects and improvement opportunities.
Construct a future-state Value Stream Map of what the process will look like and how it will perform after the problems are solved and improvements are made.
Engage other teams in mapping their processes and surfacing more opportunities for improvement.

How you will learn

Classroom

The Value Stream Mapping and Opportunity Assessment course is an indelible experience that starts with engaging eLearning modules on the eight types of waste and the difference between value-added versus non-value-added activities in a process. These concepts are then reinforced by expert BMGI instructors, and are further explored via interactive exercises and simulations.

Participants also learn how to construct value stream maps of their actual workplace processes, which then become the basis for presenting opportunities for improvement to management. Opportunities—and associated improvement projects—are prioritized based on how much they promise to help achieve strategic objectives relative to their cost of implementation (biggest bang for buck).

Course Length:

3 consecutive days

24 hours of instruction

Classroom Cost:

$ 1,497

Classroom Agenda:

Pre-work:

BYOP (Bring Your Own Process)
Online primer: 8 Types of Waste
Online primer: mid-level process mapping

Day 1:

Introductions and expectations
Describe your process
Current State Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
- Introduction to the VSM tools
- Example of a VSM
- Explanation of the process
- Introduction to VSM icons
- 8 – step method of constructing the VSM
- Simulation 1: Invitation Cards
  - Class activity & data collection
  - Process workers
  - Process observers
  - Cycle times
  - Setup times
  - Resources
  - First Pass Yield
  - Inventory
  - Other
- Construct the current state VSM for simulation 1
  - Review of VSM
  - Q&A session
- Simulation 2: Starship Factory
- Construct current state VSM of simulation 2.
- Complete current state VSM and report out
Review of process improvement fundamentals (Jeopardy)
- Waste
  - WORMPIIT
  - Identifying waste in everyday life
  - Identifying waste in work environment
  - The concept of the "waste spectacles"
- Value
  - Activity driven improvements vs. employee performance driven improvements
  - Activity categories
    - Value added activities
    - Non-value-added activities
    - Waste
Day 1 Closer (Ball Toss: Ah-ha Moments)

Day 2:

Review - opener
- Waste
- Value
- Current state VSM
End-to-end value stream assessment.
- Identify projects
- Prioritize projects
- Develop project charters
Analyzing the value stream
Conduct value stream assessment of simulation 1.
- Identify projects
- Prioritize projects
- Develop project charters
Conduct value stream assessment of simulation 2.
- Identify opportunities for improvement
- Prioritize list of opportunities for improvement
- Bring all opportunities together in one matrix.
- Develop 2 – 3 sample charters
- Report outs
Simulation 2: Round 2 including improvements
- Students affect changes to the process
- Layout
- Line balance
- Inventory
- Other
- Run round 2
Process mapping variations
- Swim lane/cross functional maps
Develop current state VSM of own process
- Conducted by students
- Fill in the blanks
Homework
- Complete your current state VSM

Day 3:

Review - opener
- End-to-end value stream assessment
Beyond brainstorming
Complete your current state VSM
Conduct value stream assessment of own process
- Identify opportunities for improvement
- Prioritize list of opportunities for improvement
- C&E Matrix
- Develop 2 – 3 sample charters
- Report outs
  - Wall walk if < 5 people in class
  - Select 5 volunteers to report out if > 5 people in class
  - Report out on industry specific challenges and you got around it.
Future state VSM
- Explanation of concept
  - Future state = new current state
  - Repeat cycle
  - Documentation
  - Presentation
  - Buy-in
- Example of future state map
  - Simulation 2: Starship Factory
  - Show slide of completed future state map
Performance excellence sustainment cycle
Day 3 closer