VSM is not just a management tool, it is a process for planning improvements which will make your company provide better value for customers with less resources. What is needed for lean company is a process that links strategic plans to daily work. The nine steps followed sequentially is that process. We have learned through experience that a successful lean initiative depends upon four critical behaviors:

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True commitment: To become a lean enterprise, is it important to allocate resources for effective planning, implementation, and maintenance? Answer is a resounding yes! Lean results are not realized without commitment from people at all levels. It is not enough to appoint a person to be responsible for lean initiatives and participate in workshop to generate value stream map. You must create a desire to improve which fuels all activities. The guidance and commitment must be sincere. A cross functional team of middle level managers touching the value stream are required to team up to transform a value stream.

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Understand Customer Demand: Variation in customer demand can never be a reason for avoiding true lean implementation – its just an excuse. It always takes little more than expected, but you must understand customer demand clearly to fulfill their need.

 

Depict the Current State Accurately: We must fully understand the current condition in relation to cycle times, process communications, people’s work standards, machine/equipment capacity and process capabilities. Better we grasp the current conditions better we can create a future lean condition. Assumptions and jumping to conclusion must be avoided, which is easier said than done. 

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Communicate & Communicate:  Professionals talk about and understand too the importance of driving out fear from people minds to create a “no-blame” work environment. However, in practice, most organizations are far from achieving it. It is very important to make efforts to treat everyone with respect. Good communication is essential for it. Telling people what you are doing and why – and expressing a sincere interest in making sure they understand – goes long way to create an inclusive environment. Visual management & communication is important dimensions of Value Stream Management. The most important issue to handle is "fear of loosing job." So, manpower reduction can never be motivation for value stream improvement. No person will cooperate or participate in improvement program if one understands that consequence of improvement will result in his/her unemployment. However, many modern managers fail to understand this fact.