Value stream management

First, the current state is made visible: Which steps create value from the customer’s point of view, and where are the handovers, waiting times, queries or unnecessary loops? Examples of administrative waste are missing information, duplicated work, unclear responsibilities, unnecessary approvals and overly broad distribution lists. These examples are audit questions, not a claim about your company. The representation connects the external view of the value proposition with the internal view of processes. This allows participants to look at the same sequence instead of optimising individual departments in isolation.

We facilitate this discussion and help formulate a realistic first target state. Not every improvement needs new technology; sometimes a clear decision on responsibility or more complete information at the start of the process is enough. Results are linked to responsibilities, effort and observation points so that the map turns into actual change.

Arbeitsergebnisse: Nachvollziehbare Darstellung des Ist-Ablaufs; Zielbild mit geklärten Schnittstellen; Priorisierte Maßnahmen und Beobachtung des Fortschritts.

Sample calculations from training are not promised savings for your company. Targets need a concrete baseline.

Waste is not limited to material scraps in production. In administration, missing details can trigger queries, unclear responsibilities can create duplicate work and unnecessary approvals can delay a process. Overly broad distribution lists or superfluous meetings also consume time without increasing customer benefit.

The core team maps the actual path of a service and marks material and information flows. Processing time and waiting time are considered separately. A single function can carry out its own activity efficiently and still contribute to a value stream with long handovers. That is why a shared view across functional boundaries is crucial.

The work steps are identifying the value streams, analysing the current state, developing a target state and prioritising the need for action. The first target state should be achievable with available resources; improvement then continues.

We link the map to decisions: who changes which handover, who provides information earlier and how does the customer recognise the improvement? Those involved check the effect in the real process instead of just creating a nicer process diagram.

We distinguish between value creation and waste across the entire process. A team can carry out a task carefully and still retain an unnecessary step if the information before it is incomplete. That is why the analysis does not only ask how fast a person works, but why a query or approval is needed at all.

In the target state, the causes are changed. The customer is the point of reference: what waiting time, quality deviation or unclear handover does the customer experience? Those responsible choose initial measures whose effect can be observed in the ongoing process. The value stream is then looked at again; improvement remains an ongoing task for leadership and teams.

Possible causes are waiting times, incorrect or missing information, superfluous transport and unnecessary processing. Which of these occur in the value stream under consideration is examined on site; no category is attributed to the company without observation.

There are specific types of waste: waiting times, missing or incorrect information, unnecessary processing and superfluous handovers. These categories are search aids, not a diagnosis of your company. Together with the people from the process under consideration, we follow an order or a product through the value stream and record at which point information, material and decisions are separated from one another. This produces a picture of the causes behind delays and additional work.

A target state is described with those responsible in such a way that changes in everyday work are observable. Only a trial shows whether a simplification in one place creates new burdens elsewhere. That is why the value stream is considered as a whole rather than merely speeding up a single activity. Those involved can thus check which change actually benefits the customer and which merely shifts work.