Value Stream Mapping
Any organization that has undergone a lean transformation is familiar with the concept of value stream mapping its production processes. These same companies rarely use the same disciplined process analysis for their administrative functions. Instead, the office processes are often left to evolve over time with little examination. People can be seen at their computers or on a phone, but it’s unclear whether they are working on work-related but non-value-added activities.
When analyzed, our value stream mapping for administrative functions reveals circuitous workflow, the requirement for rework, overprocessing, starting some tasks too early and others too late, and the requirement for specialists rather than applying common standards; all of which lead to inefficiency and frustration for the team.
Our value stream mapping (VSM) services help clients design and maintain streamlined workflows that deliver consistent, measurable results. We help you organize and optimize your processes, then teach you how to maintain them so they become muscle memory and perform as they were designed.
People come and go in every organization. People with knowledge of what made the business run smoothly move on to different roles or companies and take the tribal knowledge with them. New people are onboarded and, in the absence of standard operating procedures, will use their own ideas for how to get the job done. This introduces gaps and redundancies in their processes and causes deviation from their intended performance, requiring periodic maintenance and intervention. With value stream mapping, you can track the interaction of handoffs between the different functions of an enterprise from order to invoice.
VSM intentionally designs the process so that the work is predictable and repetitive within and between departments, eliminating variation. We work to decrease any disconnects and, instead, bring departments together and stabilize cross-departmental processes. This goes beyond the shop floor and extends to administrative functions.
We focus on successfully identifying your as-is process and documenting an optimization plan. Then, we coach you on maintaining your processes so you can easily see the comparison of actual versus expected performance. Once you understand the reason for tracking performance, you can know what data to track better.
With value stream mapping, you will see financial improvement through smarter, more connected processes. When your systems are stable, your numbers will show it, and your teams will feel the difference.
Benefits of Conducting a
Value Stream Map Process
Value stream mapping delivers intentionally designed business processes and optimized standard procedures tailored to your needs. Visual controls provide real-time transparency, while documented routines boost productivity and reduce reliance on specialists.
Financial Improvements
Value stream mapping drives financial improvement by reducing costs and waste, shortening order-to-invoice lead times, and boosting organizational capacity through efficient, connected business processes.
Streamlined Operations
Value stream mapping improves operations by reducing wait times for handoffs, reducing functional process time and errors, and increasing accuracy and predictability.
Stronger Team Morale
Value stream mapping boosts satisfaction, retention, and company culture by reducing frustration and fostering ownership.
Our Value Stream Mapping Services
Phase 1: Value Stream Map and SIPOC
Creating the Initial Value Stream Map
We start by mapping how work moves through your organization — from order to invoice — using input from your management team. This quickly reveals gaps, redundancies, and misalignments between departments. By clarifying these issues, we create a targeted plan to streamline handoffs between people and departments and improve overall process flow. The result: fewer errors, faster execution, and better cross-team collaboration.
Creating SIPOCs
After developing the initial value stream map, our consultants change their focus from tracking how an order moves through the enterprise to how work moves through each department from the perspective of the people doing the work in those departments. We focus on what is expected of them, what they need from outside their department to get the job done, and what processes they’ll use to convert those inputs to outputs. Using our SIPOC format, we document their Suppliers, Inputs, Processes, Outputs, and Customers (SIPOCs).
SIPOC Breakdown by Department
Input Suppliers
We determine who provides these inputs, so departments can agree on formatting quality expectations.
Required Inputs
We identify the specific inputs necessary for each process to function effectively.
Departmental Processes
We create a clear, discrete list of processes the department will require to perform its duties.
Expected Outputs
We clarify what outputs each process should produce and establish expectations for training new employees and conducting performance reviews.
Output Customers
We identify customers of each output so you can meet with them and make sure to meet their expectations for format and quality.
Identifying Gaps and Redundancies Between the VSM and SIPOC
We combine your value stream map and SIPOC diagrams to create a single, order-to-invoice source of truth. By overlaying these documents, we quickly spot disconnects and misalignments. Our team brings departments together to resolve gaps and align processes — resulting in streamlined workflows and consistent execution.
Phase 2: Documenting the Processes
Each process identified during the creation of the departmental SIPOCs can be considered essential, and the corresponding department should make sure the standard process is documented and accurate.
Following Value Stream Mapping, SIPOC creation, and reconciliation of the two tools, creation of these business processes can be done with the confidence of the processes being connected across the enterprise in the most efficient way the entire team could imagine, with buy-in across the organization.
Phase 3: Creating Standard Forms
The corresponding department should create any forms required to present inputs or outputs in a standard format. The format is designed to make sure the required content and quality of content are available for each handoff between departments. This standardization also simplifies future business process audits.
Solutions
Through value stream mapping’s disciplined process analysis, your organization will walk away with an intentionally designed and targeted business process. Together, we develop optimized standard procedures tailored to your organization’s needs and generate visual controls that provide real-time transparency as work moves through the organization. Introducing visual management and documenting key administrative routines diminishes the need for specialists and significantly improves office productivity. We can help establish a resource, governance, and accountability (RG&A) panel of internal employees so your organization can independently maintain this oversight and ownership across departments. With VSM, we do not just treat symptoms; we apply root cause analysis to resolve issues at their source.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re facing missed commitments, declining metrics, inefficient processes, or high turnover, our consultants help you optimize workflows, resolve bottlenecks, and drive measurable improvements across your organization.
Contact us to get started if you experience any of the following typical symptoms that the VSM system can resolve.
Functional groups are aligned on priorities.
Production becomes predictable.
Any observer can walk the shop floor and know within minutes whether production is on track without asking anyone.
Standards are enforced, so quality, morale, and efficiency improve.
Cost of production is reduced.
Rework is reduced and on a path to elimination.
With efficiency and quality improved, overtime can be reduced or eliminated.
Customers receive more reliable on-time delivery.
Why Choose RPM?
We bring a dynamic team of people who have worked in the business. Our consultants have real-world, hands-on experience in the field and understand the handoffs, the inputs and outputs, and the quality level expectations of them. We have innate knowledge of the frustration employees can have in these roles, we know what good VSM looks like, and we know what is required to make your overall enterprise run smoothly.
Ready to Talk?
Contact us to discuss where your processes are breaking down and how value stream mapping can resolve those issues at their source.
