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Value Stream Mapping & Kaizen

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What's it all about alfie?

Valuestreamguru is passionate about business improvement - we love write about thinks like Kaizen, Value Stream, Lean, six sigma and the like - if it's business improvement count us in!

We created this lens to share our passion - and to share some of the cool business improvement stuff we find on the web.

This month on Valuestreamguru.com

At Valuestreamguru.com this December - we're taking an indepth look at Value Stream Mapping - we've got some great articles looking at the subject in detail from the Benefits of Value Stream Mapping, through to Example Value Stream Maps. Be sure to check it out.

We're also taking a look at Balanced Scorecards and how Lean is used in Healthcare

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Improvement programs only exist to save money

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Yes - it's always about the $

Nope - it's about working smarter not just $

GedB says:

Just realised that I put my comment in the wrong box. Ooops.

Posted January 06, 2010

valuestreamguru says:

Too many companies miss the point of improvement programs and only look at implementing them when times are hard - there is so much more to the likes of lean than just cost saving - how about getting closer to customer requirement or improving customer satisfaction!

Posted November 19, 2008

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GedB Jan 6, 2010 @ 8:18 am | delete

No, improvement programs are all about increasing value.

Value can be increased by reducing costs, but it is rather limited because you are reaching for the lower limit: zero. The gap between where your costs are and zero is finite, and you can never reach zero itself. Returns are dimiinishing, as it gets harder to squeeze extra savings out.

Increasing value is much better, because the upper limit is infinite. There are always way to increase value.

Apple and the iPhone are a good example. For years manufacturers had been working to reduce costs with impressive results, but here in the UK good handsets are available for free, with a games console thrown in, and where can you go from there?

Apple instead increased the value delivered by the handset to the user. Then they added value as an handheld internet device. Then they added value as a gaming platform.

There is always more improvement available when seeking to make things better rather than cheaper.

Use Value Stream Mapping to understand how value is delivered and then eliminate waste to improve agility and responsiveness (with saving money as a nice side effect).

Once the processes are cleanly aligned with the customers needs, with no waste generated friction to slow you down, you can set about finding new ways to deliver value.