Value Stream Mapping
A lean manufacturing tool that visualizes all steps in the production process from raw materials to customer delivery, identifying both value-adding and non-value-adding activities. Value stream maps help teams see waste, understand material and information flow, and design improved future-state processes.
RELATED TERMS
Lean Manufacturing
A systematic approach to manufacturing derived from the Toyota Production System that focuses on eliminating waste while delivering value to customers. Lean identifies seven types of waste (overproduction, waiting, transport, overprocessing, inventory, motion, and defects) and uses tools like value stream mapping, 5S, and kanban to continuously improve processes.
Continuous Improvement
An ongoing effort to incrementally improve products, processes, and services over time through small, sustainable changes. Continuous improvement is a core principle of lean manufacturing and quality management, engaging all employees in identifying and implementing improvements.
Cycle Time
The total elapsed time required to complete one unit or one cycle of a production process from start to finish. Cycle time includes processing time, wait time, and move time, and is a critical metric for capacity planning, scheduling, and identifying improvement opportunities.
Bottleneck
The operation or resource in a production process that limits overall system throughput because it has the lowest capacity or longest cycle time. Identifying and managing bottlenecks is critical because improving non-bottleneck operations does not increase total system output.