Value stream mapping doesn’t have to be difficult with complicated symbols or the use of special software.

A value stream map can simply be an extension of your process map with enough information added to determine value and waste, and that includes activity cycle times and wait time before an activity starts.

In this video, Luciano Romano, Operations Manager for Driver Growth at Uber, introduces how a process map is extended to become a value stream map.

  • Basic Value of a VSM
  • Creation of a simple VSM
  • Activity cycle times
  • Wait time before an activity starts

Note: You should be able to go from a SIPOC to process map to value stream map using colored post-its and paper, or white board without special symbols, and by adding process times, wait times, and identifying value-add, business-value add, and non-value add steps as discussed in the video.

This next video from Lean Ohio discusses their use of specific post-it notes to go from a SIPOC to a process map and mentions the information critical to a value stream map: times, value and non-value added steps, and waste identification.

These simple videos should give you enough basic information to turn your process map into a useful value stream map.