Optimization of value streams

Increasing cost pressure as a result of globalization, growing complexity of production systems, shorter product life cycles and continually more volatile markets: These are just some of the numerous challenges that manufacturing companies will have to meet in a dynamic way in the future. Lean production and lean management are cornerstones for the economic success of manufacturing companies.

The value stream method is of outstanding importance in the use of lean instruments. As a basic method in the area of operational excellence, it is a classic analysis tool for systematically identifying and exploiting potential for improvement in the production system. CONSILIO supports companies with an individual approach to implementing value stream projects.

For the effective use of a production planning and optimization system, value stream mapping is very well suited for improving process management and identifying potential savings. With its help, both the value-added processes in their current state are analyzed and visualized, and non-value-added processes are identified. Due to the compact visualization with the help of clear symbolism, the value stream mapping provides a clear model of the material and information flow of a value stream. In addition to bottlenecks in production, the actual throughput, idle and setup times can be determined.

With the information gained, workstations, routings and finite capacities can be defined and, if necessary, reduced to the essentials. In value stream design, the targeted application of a fixed set of design guidelines allows the development of the ideal target state of a value stream in which non-value-adding activities and unnecessary idle times are eliminated. Not only waste per se, but also its causes are identified and completely eliminated. The result is highly efficient and customer-oriented value streams for the realization of a lean production flow.

The value stream method shows that through the avoidance of waste, throughput times and inventories can be reduced - and this with a simultaneous increase in process transparency and quality. However, waste can only be detected and eliminated if entire process chains are analyzed instead of individual processes. This is the basis of the CONSILIO approach to value stream projects, which can be used to optimize the flow of materials and information in production lines, complete plants and even across plants in six steps. The preliminary work for the value stream project takes place in steps one and two: A product family is selected and the value stream manager is determined.

In addition, the project organization and objectives are defined and target dates agreed. In step three, the value stream analysis is used to record the current status. Indicators and characteristic values are collected in order to understand the process flow and to be able to represent it accordingly. By developing a holistic improvement approach based on the principles of lean production, value stream design determines the target state in step four. In steps five and six, value stream implementation and finally controlling and standardization take place.