The future state mapping needs to be facilitated by someone with deep

3. The future state mapping needs to be facilitated by someone with deep

lean expertise. Unfortunately, the simplicity of the mapping method can lead us to believe that anyone who can draw a truck or a stick figure of a person can develop a good future state vision. This is no truer than assuming that anyone capable of using architectural software can design

a great house or building. A group should develop the future state map, but someone in the group needs to have real experience with lean and understand deeply what is being drawn on the map.

4. The purpose of mapping is action. Often overlooked when companies do mapping is that little section at the end of Learning to See that talks about developing an action plan. Too often we see great-looking maps lining a con- ference room, but then go out onto the floor and see little evidence of any- thing we saw on the map. Our tour guide, the lean coordinator, explains that they just spent the last six months on the mapping phase and are now up to the implementation phase. We call this “creating value stream map- ping wallpaper.”

5. Don’t develop any map before its time. Its time is when you plan on using it for action. It is better to develop one map for one product family and then implement the map for that product family than to have a mapping phase for a whole plant followed by spotty, inconsistent implementation. Start with one map, implement it, then work on your next map and work to implement that. At some point you will have covered all your value streams much more deeply than if you simply blanket your organization with maps and scattered activity.

6. Someone with management clout has to lead. The reason for value stream mapping is to get away from point kaizen, or only to improve individual processes. But who has responsibility for the whole value stream that cuts across individual processes? Generally, it would be a high-level manager; perhaps a plant or division manager. That person must be passionate about leading the transformation and be personally involved in the entire mapping process.

7. Don’t just plan and do, also check and act. It’s tempting after working so hard on the map and then on implementation, to sit back and feel like we’re done with this lean stuff. Unfortunately, we’ve just gotten started. Whatever is put in place will fall back to a non-lean state unless we’re

Chapter 3. Starting the Journey of Waste Reduction

vigilant about auditing, going to see, and improving further. Once we have achieved much of our future state map, it’s time to develop another current state map on where we are now, and then develop yet another future state map. You should choose time periods for the mapping hori- zon that encourage concrete action, for example, looking six months to one year into the future is more realistic than five years into the future.