Design for Operational Excellence: A Breakthrough Strategy for Business Growth

CHAPTER17The First Principle: Design Lean Value Streams

OBJECTIVE: Design on paper an end-to-end lean value stream flow, starting from the time we receive an order from the customer or request for a service until the time we deliver the product or service.

The concept of value stream flow started in 1996 with the book Lean Thinking.¹ In 1998 the book Learning to See² took value stream flow from concept to reality by providing a practical approach to mapping value stream flow. The focus was on manufacturing, and a simplified case study was used to teach the basic concepts of value streams and the process for designing a lean value stream. The case ...