As a senior Lean consultant for Rockwell Collins, Mark Anderson has led numerous value stream mapping sessions within our company and for our suppliers. In this Q&A, Anderson explains how value stream mapping forces any team - whether they're in an office or on a manufacturing floor - to think outside of the box in order to implement value-added changes.

Q. In your role, how do you help teams determine where opportunities for improvement exist?

A. I usually start by asking them how their current value streams - the series of activities required to deliver a product or service - disappoint both their internal and external customers in terms of delivering value. Usually, what customers are concerned about from a value standpoint are cost, quality and delivery. In some cases, it's also flexibility.

Q. Part of your role is to lead value stream mapping sessions. How are those sessions helpful?

A. The value stream is important because it helps you understand what processes you need to complete in order to deliver that value to the customer. The mapping portion of it is analyzing those process steps to determine how much waste is in there - in other words, what's preventing you from delivering that value to the customer.

Q. When should you start a value stream mapping session?

A. At Rockwell Collins, value stream mapping occurs during the Roadmap phase on our Lean Roadmap, which is the framework for our Lean journey. This phase begins once the foundation has been established and proper focus is in place.

The team first needs to define the business, build a case for change, understand what it takes to win and develop the proper metrics to drive behaviors that you want to put in place. Then, prior to the value stream mapping session, breakthrough goals need to be developed.

Q. What are breakthrough goals?

A. Breakthrough goals look beyond incremental goals. Once you understand what it takes to win, you need to establish goals that are going to create out-of-the-box thinking.

An example I typically use is from Kent Statler, the executive vice president of Rockwell Collins Services. Back in the 2001 timeframe, our average turnaround time for repairs at our service centers was about 14 days, which was better than the industry standard. Kent realized that if we significantly improved our turnaround time, it would become a market differentiator. As a result, he set a breakthrough goal of three days turnaround time.

I think he understood the fact that even though we might not meet that goal, it would stretch people's minds a little bit and force them to do things radically different. This breakthrough goal led to increased performance levels that were well beyond what would have been achieved if an incremental improvement goal of say 10 days were set.

Q. How do breakthrough goals tie in with value stream mapping?

A. They should drive the improvements that you make in your value streams. In other words, they provide focus for the types of improvements you need to make.

You don't want to just do the value stream mapping and make improvements. You want to make sure you're always keeping in mind what it is that you're trying to do. You need to think: What are the goals I'm trying to accomplish and do the breakthrough goals provide that focus that I need?

Q. Why do you need breakthrough goals if you have operational goals?

A. Your breakthrough goals should support the operational goals. Any time you have goals - whether they're for a department or an individual - you should always be asking the question: Is what I'm doing going to affect operational measures?

At Rockwell Collins, our operational measures are our scorecard goals, and if our employees can't answer yes to that question, then they need to re-evaluate the planned improvements.

Q. How should you prepare for a value stream mapping session?

A. First of all, you need to look at the value stream from the customer's perspective. A lot of times we're so close to the processes that we look at it from our individual points of view. You need to put the customer's hat on and look at it through the customer's eyes.

The next thing is to understand the objectives and the boundary conditions. Sometimes, we get into the value stream mapping activity and there's confusion as to where the value stream starts and stops.

The last thing is to develop what I call, "eyes for waste and flow." What I mean by that is to educate yourself about the Lean guiding principles, the Seven Forms of Waste and the Lean tools that can be used to eliminate waste.

Q. During a value stream mapping event, you look at the current state, ideal state and the future state. What's the difference between them?

A. Let's say I took a snapshot with a camera of how the value stream currently performs - that's your current state.

The ideal state is envisioning what that value stream would look like if it's a continuous sequence of value-added steps with minimal handoffs and queues, and no backflows. In other words, it's the perfect creation of value with no waste.

The future state is deciding what you want the value stream to look like in six to 12 months to meet business goals, considering how close the value stream can be moved toward the ideal state within the time frame. You will then use Lean tools and principles to achieve that future state.

Q. What part do groups typically spend the most time on when they're developing a value stream map?

A. Usually, it's understanding the process steps that occur in the value stream and how the processes currently perform in delivering value.

In a lot of cases, we don't do a good job of collecting data in office areas. So, sometimes when you get into a value stream mapping session, people struggle in determining how process steps currently perform in delivering cost, quality and delivery to the customer.

Q. How can an action plan be developed from a value stream map?

A. Once you understand the gap that exists between your current state and future state, you can develop an action plan. Given the business goals that are in place, your action plan will bridge that gap.

Q. What types of events are found in the action plan?

A. They typically fall into four types: a Radical Process Improvement (RPI), a project, a burst event or a do-it. There are different criteria for each one, but it should be understood that any of these types of events must make a contribution to the future state.

For example, a RPI has to be implemented within 30 days. Typically, a condition of the RPI is that 80 percent of the action must be completed during the event and the remaining 20 percent must be done within 30 days.

A project is usually two to three months, maybe more. It may have a cross-functional team or could need capital funding.

A burst event is four to eight hours long. What differentiates it from an RPI is that there is usually only one goal. Sometimes there are two goals, but it is something that can be quickly done and implemented.

A do-it is a significant improvement that doesn't need a team of people.

Q. What recommendations do you have to successfully implement an action plan?

A. You need to conduct cadence reviews to monitor your plan and execution. Many times people will develop good future state maps and a good plan, but they fall into the trap of thinking that once those initial improvements are made, that's it. Really, at that point, you've just started the journey and you need to continue to monitor and make course corrections as you go.

Q. Once an action plan is in place, what do you need to do to sustain it?

A. It's all about keeping the lines of communication open. Our leaders have to constantly communicate the case for change to prevent employees from getting discouraged or falling back into old habits.

You also need to be open to changing the plan based on changing business conditions and varying results you may get from your improvements.

Q. What resources are available to learn more about value stream mapping?

A. A starting point would be reading the book "Learning to See" by Mike Rother and John Shook. But the best way to get your feet wet is to learn by doing. Get yourself involved in a value stream mapping activity - whether it's in your own department or another area.

For more information about Lean terminology, view the Lean glossary.