Value Stream Power
The Value Stream Power is one of the best inventions of the 20th century. It focuses your business on where your business is creating value for its customers. It is a holistic view of the end-to-end performance of all the processes that deliver either a product or service.
Consequently, Value Streams make up a Business System. Processes make up a Value Stream and Activities make up Processes. Subsequently, all the Processes between a customer order and delivery, make up a Value Stream. Value Streams transcend department boundaries.
Most businesses will target a department for improvement. With that department view, you may totally miss the performance of another department. By looking at your Business System’s Value Streams the Value Stream will tell you which processes in the Value Stream need improving.
If you are operating your Business System on Value Streams, then you can implement the Toyotas Kata Continuous Improvement Program. Toyota uses this program to march itself towards perfection. The program has three major characteristics:
- Improvement Velocity. The velocity of improvement is about one idea per person, per month,
- Improvement Direction. Not only is the velocity improvement so high but every one of those ideas is in the direction of business improvement as defined by management. and
- Creates a winning culture by involving everyone in improving the System.
Above all, by implementing Value Streams you will be able to focus on the value you providing your customers along with improving performance through targeted process improvement along with seeking perfection.
Finally, review this video detailing how a government could improve a building permit process. This will demonstrate Value Stream Power:
In Conclusion
Use the Value Stream to underpin Profound Knowledge of your processes, Seeking Perfection, and start the road to Operational Excellence. The Value Stream is a holistic view of your System. Start today to build your Value Stream boulevard to excellence.