IMPLEMENTING LEAN
The general path for implementing lean includes the
following steps.
! Value Stream Mapping
This technique details the specific actions required to
bring a product family to the state of being “finished
goods,” based on customer demand. Value streammapping, which operates at a high level of abstraction,
concentrates on information management and physical
transformation.
Using a value stream map, the lean implementation
team can determine ways to bring the lead time for a
product much closer to a value-added processing time by
modifying bottlenecks and other process constraints.
The team produces a “future state map” to show how the
preferred process should operate after the bottlenecks are
identified and remedied.