Value Stream Map

A value stream is the series of activities used by an organization to deliver a product or service to an external or internal customer. A value stream map breaks down the process time for each activity, the lead time between activities, and the success rate. The map is depicted as a flow chart annotated with key metrics. Key metrics are lead time, process time, activity ratio, rolled % complete & accurate. Often a current state map is used to derive a future state map with process improvements. ^(TBD)

"Lean thinking defines value as providing benefit to the customer; anything else is waste." – Eric Ries

Requirements 

Development 

Integration 

Packaging 

Certification 

Deployment 

Release

Implement testable task within story 

Review acceptance tests

Run unit tests 

Create pull request

Run static analysis 

Run acceptance tests

Peer review code 

Respond to review comments 

Notes 

• What activities are being performed?
• Who delivers those activities? How much of their time is dedicated to those activities?
• What is the yield, i.e. ‘right first time’? What % of rework is generated? What causes rework?
• What tools are required to complete the step? And what other inputs are required?
• How many units (e.g. work packages) are ‘work in progress’ within this step?
• How many units are waiting in the ‘inbox’? How will they be prioritized or scheduled? How long will they, typically, wait for?
• How long does the step take? How much of that time is effort, or touch time, versus duration, or in-process lead-time?

Resource Checklist 

• List the products and services that you would like to deliver continuously to external or internal customers. 
• Choose one deliverable, and draw a simple flow chart showing the process from inception to customer.
  • Start with the highest level, such as Plan, Build, Integrate, Deploy, Operate, Monitor
  • Drill down on a high-level activity, such as Integrate 
    • Merge, Compile, Unit Test, Package, Regression Test
• For each activity, specify the lead time, process time, activity ratio, rolled % complete & accurate
  • Analyze the flow and identify the bottlenecks – or constraints
  • Select the biggest constraint and exploit, elevate, and subordinate the constraint. 
  • Define an actionable KPI for the activity, to keep it in check
  • Repeat the process

Related Topics

• Actionable KPIs

See Also 

• Lean Value Stream Mapping for DevOps (Katie Sotheran)
• Value Stream Mapping (Karen Martin and Mike Osterling)