V alue-stream mapping is a useful tool for grasping the current situation and for planning improvements. Recently, a reader who watched “The Secrets to Creating an Effective Value Stream Map” webinar asked when is it OK to skip the current-state map.

A value-stream map is a visual depiction of the flow of materials and information that provide the customer with a product or service. It also describes the lead time of various operations and can be used as a starting point for analyzing necessary activities and the amount of waste in the value stream. A current-state value stream map depicts the current situation as is. A future-state value stream map depicts what the value stream should look like after planned improvements have been implemented. 

A lot of companies want to skip the development of the current state map and get right into brainstorming ideas for improvement. We must avoid this impulse because if we don’t understand the current process, we can’t really make intelligent decisions about how a future current state might or should look.

 …