Currently, product delivery times play a very important role because they show the ability to deliver the product faster, which will allow them to beat competitors with similar characteristics, quality and price of the product, and fast delivery can justify a premium and will certainly improve customer satisfaction. In all cases, shorter lead times increase the flexibility and agility of the plant, reduce the need for safety inventories and reduce the risk of obsolescence.
Delivery times are cumulative and bi-directional, that is, customer order management, planning, sourcing, inspection, manufacturing, handling, picking, packing, and shipping all contribute to lead time. delivery; and the time it takes to inform the supply chain to start each activity adds to the overall time it takes to complete the job.
In every project, the application of the VSM technique is the basis for reducing inventories and being able to apply kanban, it is a technique that does not require a large investment and that is used to correct how to improve production processes, it is applied very frequently in the industry Automotive and currently industries of other branches have seen the need to learn this technique, in order to reduce their inventory, increase productivity, reduce costs.
The development of this technique applies from the customer's demand, the entire production process until the generation of the MRP that is sent to the supplier in such a way that the value chain (Supplies and Production) is implicit in this technique since if one of them fails, this chain would break.
In current times where inventory has become a burden because of its cost, world-class companies are dedicated to reducing it in order to increase the quantity produced in a given period of time and therefore produce and sell more units in that same period. time lag with the benefits of reducing costs, increasing flow, increasing inventory turns and achieving customer satisfaction
The VSM or value chain mapping is a visual tool that allows identifying all the activities in the planning and manufacturing of a product, in order to find improvement opportunities that have an impact on the chain and not on isolated processes.
This tool is based on the diagramming of two maps of the value chain, one present and one future, which will make it possible to document and visualize the current and real state of the process that is going to be improved, and the subsequent, ideal or future state. wants to achieve once the improvement activities have been carried out.
Performance indicators or measures are assigned to each of the operations that allow knowing and visualizing the current state of the process, which generally are: cycle time, number of operators per team, efficiency, among others.
Development
At present, the high costs in the manufacture and development of the products have caused that many companies do not survive in the market. This competition, where survival in the market is sought, must achieve a performance above the average in relation to competitors.
Many of the companies have problems staying competent in the market, since they have lost credibility with their clients due to the delay in the delivery of their products, which has caused a reduction in sales and as a consequence a reduction in the staff of their workers, which is reflected in their delivery times are too long in the manufacture of their products.
Over the years, several organizations have proven to be companies with high sales and that actively participate in the income of our country, that is why they see the need to make strategic movements in their processes to remain competent within their field.
A pillar of lean manufacturing is the VSM since it helps us to visualize the different anomalies existing in the process flow, since it projects us a photograph of reality and helps us detect opportunities that will help us reduce production costs
By carrying out this analysis, it will show for any company to know the stages of the process in which improvement is needed and that will influence the reduction of production costs, with this any company can demonstrate that the company has a team that seeks to optimize resources and that you can remain competent in the market.
What is Value Stream Mapping?
It is a Lean Manufacturing tool that allows us to know each and every one of the activities in the planning and manufacturing of a product, in order to find opportunities and these can be improved achieving an impact on the chain.
All the stages that add, or do not add value to the product, from the client's request, purchase of materials, the transformation of the product, to the delivery of the product to the client.
Value Chain Flow
To graph the manufacturing path of a product from start to finish and make a visual representation of flow and material. This is the current state of the material flow. This is the map of the "current state" of the value stream. A "future state" map can then be graphed of how the value should flow.
Symbols used in the value chain
Icons related to materials
Information related icons
General Character Icons
Data box detail
| Cycle Time (C / T) | Time it takes each item from entering the process stage until it leaves. |
| Changeover Time (C / O) | Time necessary (in the machine or process stage) to change from item to factory. |
| Run time | % of time of a machine that is in operation. |
| Waste | % of defective outputs |
| Number of People | Number of people assigned to a process stage. |
| Available Working Time | Number of shifts; time per shift not counting breaks. |
The Value Stream Map
Within the value stream, the movement of materials through the factory, is the stream we usually think of. The flow of information is as important as the flow of material.
Stages of Value Stream Mapping
Stages of Value Stream Mapping
Stage 1. Identify the product family
- Select a group of 3 to 5 people who know the process to be mapped Once the personnel have been selected, the value chain to be mapped must be analyzed, from the input of raw materials to the output of the finished product Select one of the criteria that can be used to group products in case there is a wide range of products.
Criteria to identify Macro families of Products. Examples
| 1. Type of product | Each family is made up of products of the same type or function. | Motors and generators |
| 2. Market | Geographic, or type of client: distributor, end | USES |
| 3. Clients | Family of products that are sold to one or more clients. | A family being sold to two potential customers. |
| 4. Degree of contact with the client | Group products by the degree of influence of the client on the final product. | All products grouped in a family. |
| 5. Sales volume | Group products with similar sales volume | High Low |
| 6. Order patterns | Group products based on different patterns of receiving orders | Long and repetitive or short series. |
| 7. Competitive base | Group products based on their sales pitch | Low cost |
| 8. Type of process | Similar processes or in the same family | Requires only one side mounting |
| 9. Product features | Products with similar physical characteristics or raw materials | Big, small, light, heavy. |
Stage 2. Draw up a diagram of the current state.
In this stage the processes are shown as they are at present. The purpose of this diagram is to correct poor practices and procedures in the process. Sources of waste are highlighted in this diagram and should be done in a short time. This tool builds processes that are linked to the customer, working with tack time, in continuous flow and pulled by the customer (Pull). At this stage it is important to ask ourselves the following questions: What processes are integrated? How many operators do they require? How many teams? What space? How much is the stock in process? Likewise, we must be clear about the cycle time, assembly time, and occupation time for each of the work centers, operations and machines involved.
Stage 3. Future state diagram.
This stage helps develop the lean manufacturing strategy. At this stage you should try to balance the production line, as well as implement lean manufacturing tools such as SMED, Poka Yoke, etc. This step is one of the most complicated since it requires knowledge of the different lean management tools.
Stage 4. Implementation of the future state.
In this stage the complete flow of information and work for a family of products is observed. There is too much work to do, so implementation in steps is recommended, and the responsibility falls on the selected group. At this stage it is convenient to imagine a process of implementation in series of connected flows for the product family, which helps to think about value flow circuits. At this stage, the following must be taken into account:
- Pacemaker circuit. It refers to the flow of information between the client and its process. The way it is handled has a direct impact on the supply chain, this means starting with the supplier and ending with the customer. Additional circuits. There are all the circuits to pull the flow of material and information. Each supermarket chain in its value chain corresponds to the end of the previous circuit.
conclusion
For any company that has the objective of maximizing its profits without having many capital losses that do not generate value to the assets, it will look for a way to apply the VSM, since through this tool, the company will be profitable since will generate higher profits, which will be reflected in a reinvestment and its stability in the market, since nowadays whoever wants to remain in the market will try to satisfy customers, offering them, apart from the good quality of the product and on-time deliveries, prices lower, which will be achieved by reducing or eliminating waste, which will be achieved by analyzing the value mapping of the processes.
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