Friday, June 24, 2011

Printing and why we Value Stream Map

Great graphic from the Globe and Mail on printing plastic money.
Looking at it from the lean angle the graphic concentrates on the value adding parts of the process. The printing, laser etching and adding serial numbers are all stressed.  This is how we are taught to think and map processes in the 'non lean' world. 


When we look at it from a Lean prospective we want to see waste in the process, only by seeing the waste can we start to reduce and eliminate it.  This is where value stream mapping comes in.  The strength of value stream mapping is not the value that it maps but the waste it maps. 
With a value stream map we can start to ask questions; where do defects happen, where and when does waiting happen, where does the over production happen?


And how can we cut down on the unnecessary motion and transport happening? 
An interesting question for this situation, what is the value of excess finished product?  
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/printing-process-for-plastic-money/article2068878/

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