Value Stream Mapping at Sysinteg (a)

Abstract

This case focuses on the application of Value Stream Mapping as a means of identifying waste in a supplier's logistics- services activities. Students are given the information needed to construct a Value Steam Map, identify value-added and non-value-added activities, and develop opportunities for reaching 50% improvement in throughput time. It is based on the case Supplier Development at SysInteg (A) UVA-OM-1355, about a summer intern in the Supplier Development department at XS Inc. who is participating in a two-day Value Stream Mapping (VSM) event at a key supplier's facility--SysInteg.

Excerpt

UVA-OM-1369

April 4, 2009

VALUE STREAM MAPPING at SysInteg (A)

Sid Parker, a summer intern at XS Inc. (XS), had gotten up early to drive to the SysInteg plant to participate in a two-day Value Stream Mapping (VSM) event that was getting under way that morning. This was his first chance to put his knowledge of lean principles and tools into practice working with a key supplier. Parker had spent the last month organizing and analyzing supplier VSM events—a new initiative for his Corporate Supplier Development department. Today's event was a hands-on opportunity to contribute directly, and he was very excited. His internship manager had obtained special permission from SysInteg for Parker to participate in the otherwise closed-door VSM event.

Parker had been interested in pursuing a post-MBA career in operations strategy, and his internship search had led him to an exciting lean-implementation opportunity at XS, a Fortune 100 manufacturing company, where he would have a bird's-eye view of every division's supply-chain-management improvement activities. Jim Lesley, Parker's manager at Corporate Supplier Development, was a recent graduate of the same MBA program and took a keen interest in Parker's development, assigning him to projects that required both analytical skills and sound judgment.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a nonprofit organization funded by the federal government, had contacted Parker's department to explore a lead-time-reduction program specifically targeted toward improving supplier performance. MEP approached large Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to select key suppliers and then helped to arrange VSM events at supplier facilities where the organization's lean consultants would help supplier personnel identify waste and reduce lead-time in manufacturing and distribution processes. The OEMs were interested as the projects could help create a cost-effective supply chain in the longer term. And suppliers saw the MEP program as an economical opportunity to access expert advice that could not only help improve operations but also strengthen their current status with the OEMs. So, the MEP model promised a win-win situation for all involved.

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Keywords: Lean thinking, Value Stream Mapping