1 | Num Columns: Specify the number of columns to display in your work area where you want to create the value stream map. Note that all extra columns are hidden (and not deleted). If you want more or fewer columns later, you can come back to this setting and change the number of columns. Do not manually delete any columns on the worksheet. If you have a large map with many symbols, you may want to use a more significant number of columns. |
2 | Column Width: Specify the width of each cell on the worksheet. This is only used for display purposes and will not affect your analysis results. When you add symbols to your worksheet, the width can scale your symbols to fit within each cell. If you don't use the Scale option, the width input is not used to create the value stream map. It only controls the display of the grid on the worksheet. |
3 | VSM Symbols: Specify the type of map you are interested in creating. Currently, three options are available: healthcare, manufacturing, and transactional. Changing this selection will change the symbols available on the task menu bar. Note that you can always change this setting later. For example, suppose you are creating a value stream map for a transactional process, but you need a symbol only found in the manufacturing process. You can change this setting to manufacturing and copy that symbol onto your map anytime. |
4 | Num Paths: Specify the number of paths you want to create on the value stream map. A path could be the entire path from end to end - from the supplier to the customer, or you can break up the portions of your map to have multiple paths. The software will calculate a summary set of metrics for each path, such as lead time, process cycle efficiency, etc. It will also create a lead-time ladder diagram for each path. You need at least one path on a value stream map, but you can add multiple paths based on your analysis needs. Similar to the earlier option, you can constantly update this setting later. |
5 | Help Button: Click on this button to open the help file for this topic. |
6 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without saving any changes. |
7a | Create Button: Click on this button to save changes and update the worksheet layout. |
7b | OK Button: Click on this button to save changes and update your analysis results. |
1 | Currency Units: Specify the currency units for this analysis. Any financial calculations reported during the analysis will use this currency unit. |
2 | Demand Units: Specify the units for demand rate. These units will be used to specify the customer's demand and calculate the TAKT times. |
3 | Cycle Time Units: Specify the units for the cycle time. These units will be used in the ladder diagram and any charts generated by the analysis. For example, on the cycle time-TAKT time chart. |
4 | Lead Time Units: Specify the units for the lead time. These units will specify the wait times or activity lead times. They will be used in the ladder diagram and on lead-time charts. |
5 | Weeks/Year: Specify how many work weeks are there in a given year. You may want to subtract holidays to estimate the number of work weeks yearly. |
6 | Days/Week: Specify how many working days there are in a week. For example, if Sat-Sun is off, you can specify that each week has five working days. |
7 | Shifts/Day: Specify how many shifts are usually there each day. Typically, it is one shift per day, but a factory could be operating equipment on all three shifts. |
8 | Hours/Shift: Specify how many productive work hours are there in each shift. You may want to take away non-work hours like lunch, breaks, meetings, etc. |
Symbol | Description |
---|---|
![]() | Customer symbol: Ideally, you need to have at least one customer symbol on each value stream map. The customer symbol specifies the required demand for the value stream. This information is required to calculate the TAKT time for this analysis. Usually, the customer symbol is placed on the right-hand side of the value stream map, but it can also be placed at the top of the left side. In some cases, the customer icon may also appear within the process steps. |
![]() | Supplier symbol: The supplier symbol shows the supplier or suppliers who provide material to our process. It is also possible that there may be no suppliers for a given value stream map. In some cases, there may be one supplier or multiple suppliers. You may also only show the key suppliers on your value stream map. Typically, transactional processes may not have a supplier symbol. |
![]() | Process symbol: The process symbol is used to denote activities or process steps. These steps transform the product or service to what the customer expects. Ideally, these steps are all value-adding, but in most cases, a major component of the process activities is non-value-added. Different types of process symbols are available to add to your worksheet, such as shared, U-cell, and external processes. cross-dock processes, etc. For a transactional value-stream, there may be other process types such as merge process, split process, decision process, etc. |
![]() | Inventory symbol: The inventory symbol is used to denote places in the process where the material is stored or places where the material is waiting for a process. Different inventory symbols are available to add to your worksheet, depending on whether you are working on a manufacturing or transactional value stream map. The inventory quantity is used to calculate the wait time for the product using either the TAKT time or the critical bottleneck speed of the process. |
![]() | Material Flow symbol: The material flow symbol is used to denote the direction and type of movement of material between different steps of the process. Depending on the flow type, different types of inventory symbols are available to add to your worksheet. The flow symbol could be a push arrow or a pull symbol, using different types of Kanban signals, First In, First Out, sequential pull, etc. |
![]() | Information Flow symbol: The information flow symbol is used to denote the direction and type of movement of information between different steps of the process. Depending on the flow type, different types of information flow symbols are available to add to your worksheet. The flow symbol could be a manual information flow, electronic information flow, etc. The information flow is usually shown from the top to bottom on a value stream map, but it could also flow in other directions depending on the map type. |
![]() | Transportation symbol: The transportation symbol is used to denote the type of transportation used for material between different steps of the process. Different transportation symbols can be added to your worksheet, such as truck, plane, train, boat, etc. The transportation symbol is typically used between the supplier and the process steps and between the company and its customers; however, depending on the process, it could also be used to show the movement of material within the company. |
![]() | Operator symbol: The operator symbol is used to denote the number and nature of resources deployed within the value stream map. The term operator is generic and can be interchangeably used as a staff resource for transactional processes. One operator can be assigned to each process or activity step or share the same operator across multiple process steps. Using operators on a value stream map is not mandatory, but adding this information can provide additional insights into the mapped process. |
1 | Customer ID: You can specify an ID for the customer, especially if multiple customers are on your map. It is recommended that the customer IDs be unique. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
2 | Customer Name: You can specify a name for the customer and choose to display this field on the worksheet. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
3 | Demand: You need to specify the required demand for the product for this customer. This is a mandatory field for this symbol. Select the correct units for your data, such as Items/Hour, Items/Day, etc. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
4 | Lead Time: If your customer expects a lead time to deliver the product or the service after placing the order, you can specify the expected lead time here. Make sure to select the right units for your data. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
5 | Notes: Any other information you want to share with this customer, such as their expectations, specifications, etc., can be noted here. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
8 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Supplier ID: You can specify an ID for the supplier, especially if multiple suppliers are on your map. It is recommended that the supplier's IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Supplier Name: You can specify a name for the supplier. It is recommended that supplier names be unique. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
3 | Lead Time: You need to specify the activity lead time, which indicates when the customer must fulfill the order after placing an order with the supplier. This is a mandatory field for this symbol. Select the correct units for your data, such as Items/Hour, Items/Day, etc. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. In the image above, the lead-time data and capacity numbers have been entered, but only the checkbox for the lead time has been selected, so only this information will be displayed on the worksheet. |
4 | Capacity: If the supplier has any capacity constraints, you can specify the maximum demand this supplier can fulfill. This is an optional field. Make sure to select the right units for your data. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
5 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this supplier, such as their specifications, MOQ, etc., can be noted here. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
8 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Process ID: You can specify an ID for the process step, especially if multiple process steps are on your map. It is recommended that the process IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Process Name: You can specify a name for the process step and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking on the checkbox next to this field. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | VA Time: The activity's processing time or cycle time is broken up into two components - VA Time (Value Added time) and NVA Time (Non-Value Added time). VA Time is the time that is considered value-adding from the customer's perspective. For some processes, the entire cycle time can be regarded as value-adding, in which case you would specify the NVA Time as 0. Conversely, we can have the whole time spent by the active as NVA time and have the VA time set to 0. We can split the total cycle time into two components for processes in between. You need to specify at least one of these two times. This is a mandatory field for this symbol. Select the correct units for your data, such as Minutes, Hours, etc. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
4 | NVA Time: The activity's processing time or cycle time is broken up into two components - VA Time (Value Added time) and NVA Time (Non-Value Added time). NVA Time is the time that is considered not to add any value from the customer's perspective. For example, time spent on rework could be regarded as non-value-added time. For some processes, the entire cycle time can be considered value-adding, in which case you would specify the NVA Time as 0. Conversely, we can have the whole time spent by the active as NVA time and have the VA time set to 0. We can split the total cycle time into two components for processes in between. You need to specify at least one of these two times. This is a mandatory field for this symbol. Select the correct units for your data, such as Minutes, Hours, etc. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
5 | Quantity/Cycle: In some processes that are executed in batches, the method may work on several parts at the same time. For example, for a heat-treatment process with a batch size of 10, the oven may heat-treat 10 of these products simultaneously. In this case, we specify the quantity/cycle to be 10. For most transactional processes, the quantity/cycle is usually 1. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
6 | Available Time: The available time for all processes uses the default value specified in the Input Options. However, you can override the default setting for specific processes. For example, most of the processes in a company may run for one shift, but a particular process that feeds several pieces of equipment may run for multiple shifts. In this case, we can override the default setting by specifying the available time for each process separately. Another example of having a different available time is when a process runs over time. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
7 | Demand Share: If a process is connected sequentially from the supplier to the customer, usually the entire demand for the customer is handled by each process so that the demand share would be 100%. However, if there are parallel processes, each piece of equipment can have a demand share of less than 100%. Another example of using the demand share is when we have a split operation, and part of the demand is sent to another processor if there is a decision operation (say, for re-work). Part of the work is sent to a separate work center. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
8 | Equipment: The default value for the number of pieces of equipment is one in most cases. However, when multiple pieces of equipment operate together, such as in a machine bank where four similar pieces of equipment are all involved in the same operation, you can specify the number of machines here. Each piece of equipment equally shares the workload. You can choose to display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to it. |
9 | OEE: You can specify the OEE for the equipment here. The OEE values are used to simulate losses that you would encounter in a piece of equipment. The OEE metric considers three types of losses: availability loss (due to downtime, setup, etc), performance loss (due to running the equipment at a lower speed), and quality loss (due to rework or scrap). If you have an overall OEE number for a piece of equipment, you can enter it here to be considered in the calculations. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
10 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this process, such as safety, quality, performance, etc., can be noted here. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
11 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
12 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
13 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Inventory ID: You can specify an ID for the inventory location, especially if there are multiple locations for inventory within your map. It is recommended that the inventory IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Inventory Name: You can specify a name for the inventory location and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking on the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | Quantity: You need to specify the typical amount of inventory at this inventory location. This information calculates the waiting time for a product or service. This is a mandatory field for this symbol. If the inventory quantity is a variable, you can choose to represent the most likely or worst-case scenario here, depending on your requirements. You can also come back later, make changes to this quantity, and conduct what-if studies to see how changing this inventory level will impact your overall process performance. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
4 | Lead Time: In addition to the waiting due to the amount of inventory at this location, there may be additional waiting time at this step. For example, to process an order, transportation, etc., you can indicate these additional wait times in this field. The total wait time calculated by the system is due to inventory quantity and lead time. You can display this value on your worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
5 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this inventory, such as inspection or handling requirements, can be noted here. If you select the checkbox next to this field, this data field will be displayed on the worksheet. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
8 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Info ID: You can specify an ID for the information flow, especially if multiple information flows are within your value stream map. It is recommended that the info IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Info Name: You can specify a name for the information flow and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking on the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | Data Type: You can specify the type of data being passed from one point in the process to another. The different types of data are forecast, item, information, order, schedule, etc. This information is not used in the calculations but can be used to display additional information on the worksheet. You can display this quantity on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field |
4 | Frequency: In addition to the data type, you can specify how frequently information is passed between these two points. The frequency can be hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
5 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this exchange, such as contact person, etc., can be noted here. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
8 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Transport ID: You can specify an ID for the transport flow, especially if multiple information flows are within your value stream map. It is recommended that the transport IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Transport Name: You can specify a name for the transport and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking on the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | Lead Time: You can specify the lead time for this transport. This is the time it takes to move the material from the point of shipment to reaching the destination site. This may include loading/unloading, transit, customs clearance, etc. This information is added to the overall wait times on a path to arrive at the total lead time. You can display this quantity on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field |
4 | Frequency: Specify how often are transports being arranged between the two points on your map. The frequency could be hourly, daily, weekly, etc. You can display this value on your worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
5 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this exchange, such as days of the week when the transportation will occur, can be noted here. You can display this information on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this item. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
8 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Staff ID: You can specify an ID for the staff, especially if multiple resources are within your value stream map. It is recommended that the staff IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Staff Name: You can specify a name for the staff and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking on the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | Number: You need to specify the number of staff at this resource. This information will be used to perform resource loading and balancing. This number could be an integer or a fraction in case resources have other assignments that are not captured on the value stream map. You can display this quantity on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
4 | Available Time: Specify the number of hours that this resource is available to work. If overtime is involved, you will need to increase the available hours to account for overtime. If you have insufficient resources to do the job, you can either increase the number of staff persons assigned to this role or increase the overtime hours. You can display this information on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this item. |
5 | Efficiency: Specify the efficiency of this resource group. The efficiency numbers calculate the effective time this group requires to perform their tasks and activities. The efficiency number should range between 0 and 100. You can display this information on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this item. |
6 | Rate: Specify the hourly rate for this resource. This number will perform any cost-related calculations for this value stream map. You can display this information on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this item. |
7 | Notes: Any other information you want to share for this resource, such as hourly/part-time workforce, can be noted here. You can display this information on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this item. |
8 | Assignments: You can assign the resource group to one or more process/activity centers to perform the various activities. At this time, each resource group can be assigned up to 5 different processes. The process assignments need to specify how much they spent on each process. This information is used to compute their workload balancing calculations. |
9 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
10 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
11 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Kaizen ID: You can specify an ID for the Kaizen improvement idea, especially if multiple improvement ideas are on your value stream map. It is recommended that the Kaizen IDs be unique. You can display this field on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
2 | Kaizen Name: You can specify a name or a short description of the Kaizen idea and choose to display this field on the worksheet by clicking the checkbox next to this field. |
3 | Benefits: You can rate the Kaizen idea in terms of the benefits expected from implementing it. You can rate the concept on a scale of 0 to 10. 0 means no improvement, and 10 means very large improvement. Any comments on the benefits rating can be included next to the rating scale. Note that the benefits rating is mandatory, and this information will be used to plot the Kaizen idea on a benefit-effort matrix. You can display this information on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
4 | Effort: You can rate the Kaizen idea in terms of the effort involved in implementing it. You can rate the effort on a scale of 0-10. 0 means no effort (effortless to implement), and 10 means considerable effort to implement the idea. Any comments on the effort rating can be included next to the rating scale. Note that the effort rating is mandatory, and this information will be used to plot the Kaizen idea on a benefit-effort matrix. You can display this information on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
5 | Financials: Specify any quantified financial benefits from this idea here. The currency used on this form is specified on the Analysis Setup button. This is not a mandatory field. Including this value here can help you quantify the financial benefits you expect from implementing all the Kaizen ideas. You can display this value on your worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field |
6 | Risk Severity: You can rate the severity of any risk for this Kaizen idea on a scale of 0-10 with notes next to the rating scale. This is an optional field. |
7 | Risk Occurrence: You can rate the occurrence of the risk for this Kaizen idea on a scale of 0-10 with notes next to the rating scale. This is an optional field. The product of risk severity and risk occurrence gives you the overall risk of this Kaizen idea. This information could be used to plot the Kaizen ideas on the benefit-effort matrix. |
8 | Notes: You can include any other notes for the Kaizen idea here, such as priority rating, etc., and choose to display them on the worksheet by selecting the checkbox next to this field. |
9 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
10 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to exit without changing any settings. |
11 | OK Button: Click on this button to save your changes and exit. |
1 | Pick Charts: Select the charts you would like to display when you generate analysis outputs. |
2 | Title: The system will automatically pick a title for your chart. However, if you want to override that with your title, you can specify a title for your chart here. Note that this input is optional. |
3 | Sub Title: The system will automatically pick a subtitle for your chart. However, if you want to override that with your subtitle, specify a subtitle for your chart here. Note that this input is optional. |
4 | X Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your label for the x-axis, you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional. |
5 | Y Label: The system will automatically pick a label for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your label for the y-axis, you can specify a different label here. Note that this input is optional. |
6 | X Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the x-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the x-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, the minimum x-axis scale is set at 10, and the maximum x-axis scale is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, the x-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is optional. |
7 | Y Axis: The system will automatically pick a scale for the y-axis. However, if you would like to override that with your values for the y-axis, you can specify them here. The format for this input is to determine the minimum, increment, and maximum values separated by a semi-colon. For example, if you specify 10;20, the minimum y-axis scale is set at 10, and the maximum y-axis is set at 20. If you specify 10;2;20, then, in addition to minimum and maximum values, the y-axis increment is set at 2. Note that this input is optional. |
8 | Horizontal Lines: You can specify the values here if you want to add a few extra horizontal reference lines on top of your chart. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 12;15, two horizontal lines are plotted at Y = 12 and Y = 15, respectively. Note that this input is optional. |
9 | Vertical Lines: You can specify the values here if you want to add a few extra vertical reference lines on top of your chart. The format for this input is numeric values separated by semi-colon. For example, if you specify 2;5, two vertical lines are plotted at X = 2 and X = 5, respectively. Note that this input is optional. |
1 | Item: The left-hand side shows the major tabs and the items checked within each section |
2 | Status: The right-hand side shows the status of the checks. |
3 | Overall Status: The overall status of all the checks for the given analysis is shown here. The overall status check shows a green thumps-up sign if everything is okay and a red thumps-down sign if any checks have not passed. Note that you cannot proceed with generating analysis results for some analyses if the overall status is not okay. |
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