Value Stream Mapping Workshop
The main reason organizations don’t realize maximum output from their capacity is that planning and execution behavior is not aligned with the global purpose of the organization. There are two behaviors that account for this misalignment. They are:
- Over-production; Making more than the customer (or the next step) requires. Usually manifested as batching behaviors and
- Releasing work too early into the system (allowing overproduction); resulting in high work in process inventory.
These two deeply embedded behaviors are the result of manager’s beliefs about the proper way to manage resources. There are countless policies, procedures and measurements that reinforce the erroneous idea that in order to manage operations well means to keep workers and/or machines producing as much as possible, as fast as possible. We have been taught that idle resources are major waste. Those that have implemented the Theory of Constraints (and Lean) realize this thinking is fundamentally flawed.
Managers must change their processes, policies and measurements to reinforce behaviors that lead to more flow, not greater resource efficiency. The very nature of efficiency must be redefined, from the resource level to the system level, from individual production to system production.
How do you get managers to realize that this deeply held definition of efficiency (the sum of local improvements is equal to improving the system as a whole) is leading to shortages of capacity? The thinking is institutional; managers are not even aware of this hidden assumption. Beyond the realization that the assumption is wrong, how do you get changes in behavior? Despite conventional wisdom, behavioral research demonstrates that people don’t necessarily act from the beliefs they have, but from the reinforcements they receive. Therefore, in order to get people to change behavior, you must not only find the erroneous assumption and kill it, you must also identify the reinforcement mechanisms that drive the undesirable behaviors and change those.
This three-day workshop is for a team of managers from a single company or business unit. During the workshop, managers will identify these behaviors and create the “to-be” value stream map and reinforcement mechanisms to increase productivity and improve on-time delivery. This event, conducted at the beginning of a Theory of Constraints implementation in operations (either drum-buffer-rope or the distribution solution) provides a foundation to create real and lasting change; assessing the situation for implementation and developing a statement of the future state processes, roles, accountabilities and measurements.
In the workshop, attendees are defining the current business process, value stream and reinforcements; identifying opportunities for improvement, obstacles for implementation and identifying a path forward to achieve the results they desire. Through facilitated discussion, interviews, and direct observation, the process defines the current state of the processes and creates consensus on a strategy to improve operating results.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop a deep, shared understanding of the value creation process
- Discover areas of misalignment in the process
- Find duplication of effort
- Learn how to drive waste from the process
- Find the constraint of the process
- See opportunities to reduce lead time
- Reveal hidden capacity
- Lay the foundation to build a robust, more effective process
Deliverables:
- As-Is process map of top level business processes and value stream
- Identification of improvement opportunities
- Defined implementation strategy
- Team consensus on the approach to change
Who Should Attend
- 7-10 cross-functional managers, including the process owner
- Process improvement champions