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The value of Value Stream Mapping to students

Abstract

This paper provides a discussion of the value of teaching the lean manufacturing topic of Value Stream Mapping to senior students in engineering. Value Stream Mapping is a technique that is used to view, on a broad level, a company’s manufacturing of a part family. The technique is used to identify possible improvement areas within the manufacturing plant. Once identified, the appropriate Lean Manufacturing technique is used to meet specific improvement metrics. These techniques include visual systems, 5S, TPM, cellular layout, work balancing, JIT, etc. Engineering students in college typically do not have an extensive understanding, or the experience, in a manufacturing environment. Unless the topic of value stream mapping is presented correctly the student may not be able to properly use the technique in an actual applied situation. One method of re-enforcing the technique is to have the students working in teams to perform an actual analysis of a manufacturing system and present appropriate and realistic opportunities for improvement.

In order to organize this paper, an overview of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) technique will be discussed first. The primary section of the paper will be on the method of incorporating active learning in the presentation of VSM to engineering students.

Value Stream Mapping Overview

Value Steam Mapping is a visualization tool used in Lean Manufacturing (Toyota Production System). It helps to understand the processes and thereby streamline the individual process steps using the Lean Manufacturing tools. The goal of using the VSM technique is to identity the individual areas of waste in the process. Any activity that does not add value to the product is considered waste. Waste can be separated into 7 commonly accepted categories such as overproduction, waiting, transportation, poor processing, excess inventory, excess motion, and defective products. VSM is the starting point in which engineers, management, production personnel, schedulers, customers, and suppliers can identify current and potential areas for process waste reduction. It is a method of graphically depicting the entire process from the initial customer’s request to the final delivery of the product to the customer. The entire process includes areas such as order entry, customer service, scheduling, engineering, raw material ordering, component ordering, and most importantly, the individual process steps in manufacturing. Within the mapping, both the physical process flow and informational process flows are determined and graphically displayed.

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Lobaugh, M. (2008, June), The Value Of Value Stream Mapping To Students Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--4416