Optimizing your flows without adding complexity : time to try VSM?

Imagine visualizing the entire journey of your products, from order to delivery, like a roadmap... A map that highlights traffic jams, slowdowns, unnecessary detours… and magical shortcuts. This is exactly what Value Stream Mapping (VSM) or value chain mapping allows!

In today’s industrial world, where competitiveness is measured in minutes and every form of waste counts, VSM offers a precious overview of the entire value chain. It may look simple on the surface, but it can radically transform the way you produce, deliver… and collaborate, as long as you understand how to apply it methodically..

Why Value Stream Mapping is a key lever for industrial SMEs

In an industrial SME, resources are often limited, teams are multi-tasking, and processes... sometimes unclear. The results? Waste (or Muda, in Lean terms) creeps in everywhere. Work-in-progress piles up without explanation. Lead times stretch out unexpectedly. Not ideal when you’re promising fast service or competitive pricing.

VSM allows for a comprehensive and shared view of flows: information, materials, decisions. It highlights bottlenecks, duplication, unnecessary waits… in short, everything that fails to add value (NVA = Non-Value Added). Used correctly, it helps to:

• Reduce production lead time

• Decrease inventory levels

• Improve quality

• Simplify flow management

By providing a factual basis for improvement initiatives, VSM becomes a true engine for transformation. And the best part? You don’t need expensive software to get started. A well-executed, low-tech version is often more useful than a theoretical mega-diagram.

What are we talking about exactly?

Value Stream Mapping is a foundational Lean Management tool. It visually represents all the steps (value added or not - VA/NVA) that a product or service goes through, from customer demand to delivery.

Concretely, it means mapping:

• Physical flows: materials, components, products,...

• Information flows: orders, production sheets, ERP...

• Key data points: cycle times, changeover times, work in progress, reworks

• Inventory levels: especially at handoffs, often where hidden blockages lie

For example: an SME that manufactures mechanical parts can use VSM to observe that between two operations, the parts wait... 3 days in a cart. In other words, 3 days without creating value. The team will quickly realize that these waits were costly, due to a simple communication problem between workshops.

Unlike a simple process mapping, VSM also includes information flows, inventory, and time, making it a much more complete tool to improve global performance.

🚀 How to launch a VSM project

VSM isn’t just for big corporations. On the contrary, in an industrial SME, it’s often a quick, visible lever for change, as long as the process is framed properly from the start.

1. 🎯 Choose and define the scope of the value stream

Do not start too broad. To begin effectively:

• Select a priority or problematic stream: a key product, a bottlenecked line, a high-value product family.

• The goal is to have a clear and manageable scope (e.g., from order to delivery, or from cutting to shipping).

🧠 Tip: Start with a process that teams are familiar with, especially if pain points are already being felt.

2. 👥 Build a cross-functional team

A good VSM project is never done alone at the office:

• Involve field profiles: operators, team leaders, maintenance, logistics, quality, etc.

• Add a VSM facilitator (internal or external) to lead and structure the approach.

🔧 The key? Cross-checking perspectives to better understand the root causes of waste..

3. 🛠️ Prepare the workshop

No need for a 4-day seminar:

• Present the VSM method in a simplified version: symbols, current state/future state, VA/NVA flows.

• Distribute a field observation sheet (cycle time, work in progress, defects...) (collect your ERP data beforehand).

• Define clear goals and limits: aim to complete the current-state map in a day.

🧭 The goal isn’t perfection — it’s actionable understanding.

⚠️ 4 classic mistakes to avoid

Even with the best intentions, some pitfalls can derail the process.Here are the ones most common in SMEs:

• Mapping from an office: without field visits, you map an ideal, not reality.

• Trying to do everything at once: A good VSM focuses on a specific issue, not the whole factory.

• Not involving operators: they are the ones who experience the flows on a daily basis. Without them, you miss the real causes.

• Waiting for everything to be “perfect” to start: better an imperfect map that is used than a perfect diagram that is never implemented.

4. 👣 Go to the field and map the current state

This step is critical.

• Follow the real flow — not what’s written in procedures.

• Observe workstations, time tasks, ask questions, record inventory levels, queues, delays, feedback loops.

• Sketch your map manually with post-its or digital tools.

• Cross-check ERP/system data with what you see on site — the gaps are often surprising.

🔍 Objective: Expose all the non-value activities: waste, bottlenecks, waiting, excess stock, rework…

5. 🧠 Analyze the current state map together

Once the map is created:

• Identify the bottlenecks: queues, overloaded stations, abnormal delays, etc.

• Let the teams speak! Operators often know exactly where the issues lie — VSM gives them a voice.

• Identify Kaizen opportunities, small, simple improvement actions you can tackle immediately.

6. 📍 Map a realistic future state

Start projecting forward:

• Eliminate what has no added value

• Reduce work in progress and idle times

• Apply Lean principles: pull flow, Kanban, smoothing, standardization...

📌 Be careful: the future state must be achievable. Proceed in manageable steps.

7. ✅ Formalize and follow up

• Create a simple action plan (5 to 10 key actions max)

• Display the map in the workshop or in a visual management room

• Track 3 to 5 KPIs (cycle time, stock, % VA/NVA, customer lead time…)

🎯 A VSM project should translate into visible changes on the ground, even if the wins are modest at first. What matters is the momentum — and follow-through.

Don’t forget to update your systems with field data!

In summary

Value Stream Mapping is not just a tool. it’s a new way of seeing your operations. By making waste and improvement opportunities visible, it triggers a simple, practical, and accessible path to continuous improvement.

Train your teams, pick a pilot flow, and go see what’s really happening where value is created: on the shop floor.

Got a process in mind? A motivated team? Then grab your post-its, gather your crew, and start mapping your first value stream. You’ll be surprised how quickly the first wins come.