The congruence model asks whether ‘‘organizational
arrangements are adequate to meet the demands of the
task’’ (Nadler & Tushman, 1980, p. 43). One major objective
of lean manufacturing is to increase the contribution of the
value streams. VSC sheds insight on managing production
bottlenecks and capacity, which are critical issues to the
flow and pull so vital to lean production. Capacity information provided by VSC also allows value stream managers to
better understand the relevant costs that affect future
work related to whether or not to expand production, take
on special orders, or in-source rather than out-source.
Based on personal experiences,Solomon and Fullerton
(2007) and Brosnahan (2008)argue that VSC improves
the communication and decision-making process in lean
organizations and saves money through significantly reduced transaction tracking. In their longitudinal case
study, Åhlström and Karlsson (1996)demonstrate that
refocusing the MAS on value streams is beneficial to a lean
manufacturing strategy