How to create a value stream map

If your product is a success in the marketplace, that's a great starting point—now you need continuous improvement to stay ahead of the competition. This is when a value stream map (VSM) is handy. Whether you want to reduce waste, bypass bottlenecks, or better meet customer needs, a VSM can help you find the best path to reach your goals.

Read on to learn more about:

• What a value stream map is and how you can benefit from making one
• How to create a value stream map—including a best-practice VSM example
• How to use FigJam to boost your value stream mapping process

What is a value stream map?

A value stream map is a flowchart that shows the activities, information flows, inputs, and process steps in a workflow. Teams can create a VSM to nail down project scope, including start and end points. This VSM lets teams map out a process flow’s current state alongside its ideal future state, so they can pinpoint problems and create a process improvement plan.

Value stream mapping is an effective tool for spotting inefficiencies in the production process. As part of Six Sigma or lean methodology, it focuses on eliminating waste and redundancies to boost performance and uptime—and deliver value-added products and services to your customers.

Why use a value stream map?

Value stream maps got started in lean manufacturing to help teams with:

• Continuous improvement. A VSM can identify downtime, delays, and defects in the production process, so team members can resolve them quickly.
• Better collaboration. With a VSM tracking workflow activities and progress, key stakeholders can better understand what they’re responsible for—and when.
• Increased customer satisfaction. Value stream maps help teams stay lean and responsive to changing customer demands.

100 years of VSMs, from cars to software development

Value stream analysis began a century ago when manufacturing companies started using materials and information flow diagrams to continuously streamline manufacturing process flows. Toyota championed their use in the Toyota Production System to rapidly produce cars and meet customer needs. These diagrams evolved to what’s now called a value stream map. Today, this popular lean and Six Sigma technique crosses multiple industries and applications, including healthcare, finance, supply chain management, and software development.

Best-practice value stream map example

Mapping out the materials, requirements, key players, and timeline of your process flow helps teams better understand and improve customer-centric initiatives. To see best practices in action, check out this value stream map example created in FigJam for a web development project.

How to create a value stream map in just 5 steps

Want to get a big picture view of product development to maximize value for your customers? You can create a value stream map in just five steps using FigJam’s value stream map template.

Step 1: Set project focus and scope.

Decide what process or activity you’d like to focus on, whether it’s a new feature for an app or a website redesign. Tap relevant stakeholders to help you define project scope, including a high-level summary, objectives, and start and end points for your VSM.

Step 2: Capture your current state.

Start process mapping from the end result, focusing on customer needs and expectations. Then trace the value stream from your customer back to the beginning of the process. Record key players, process data and materials, and the time required for each step. Pro tip: Collaborate with stakeholders early and often for an accurate VSM. Walk through the process with team members and ask: how is the flow of information and materials working?

Step 3: Interpret your value stream map.

Fill in VSM data boxes with key details, such as lead times, process times, inventory, and yields. This will help you find errors, redundancies, wait times, bottlenecks, and other barriers to creating value for your company and customers.

Step 4: Build out your future state.

Apply what you’ve learned to develop an ideal workflow. Compare this to your current state map, and you'll see where the waste is (aka overproduction or activities that don’t add value). Your future state map will help your team focus on value-added activities that will improve your process flow.

Step 5: Launch a plan.

Now that you know where you are and where you want to go, you can develop an action plan to improve your entire process. List out the changes required, who’s accountable, handoffs, timeline, and success metrics.

Value stream map key terms

Understanding key VSM terms makes it easier to fill out a value stream map.

• Changeover time is the time needed to change a process to produce a different product or service.
• Cycle time is the average amount of time it takes to complete an activity, from beginning to end.
• Kaizen burst. Also known as radical process improvement, this is a three- to five-day problem-solving event involving cross-functional teams.
• Lead time covers the entire development cycle, from concept to delivery.
• Setup time is the time required to set up a process step.
• TAKT time refers to the rate at which teams can deliver a product that satisfies customer demand.
• Uptime means how long a process or system stays up and running.

Jumpstart your value stream map with FigJam

Invite your team to start brainstorming what’s in scope for your value stream map with FigJam’s online whiteboard. Then use FigJam’s value stream map template to:

• Quickly define what’s at play in the product flow, dragging and dropping stickies, stamps, and emojis onto your FigJam whiteboard.
• Get feedback in real time by inviting stakeholders to use audio and live chat or add comments on the fly.
• Easily share and store assets between Figma and FigJam to continue to update your VSM with new inputs.

Want to see real-world VSM examples created in FigJam? Check out these helpful value stream map examples shared in the Figma community.

Ready to add value?