Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to Add Value and Eliminate MUDA

by Mike Rother, John Shook, James P. Womack (Foreword)

Value-stream maps are the blueprints for lean transformations and Learning to See is an easy-to-read, step-by-step instruction manual that teaches this valuable tool to anyone, regardless of his or her background. This groundbreaking workbook breaks down the important concepts of value-stream mapping into an easily grasped format. The workbook, a Shingo Research Prize recipient in 1999, is filled with actual maps, as well as engaging diagrams and illustrations. The value-stream map is a paper-and-pencil representation of every process in the material and information flow, along with key data. It differs significantly from tools such as process mapping or layout diagrams because it includes information flow as well as material flow. Value-stream mapping is an overarching tool that gives managers and executives a picture of the entire production process, both value and nonvalue-creating activities. Rather than taking a haphazard approach to lean implementation, value-stream mapping establishes a direction for the company. To encourage you to become actively involved in the learning process, Learning to See contains a case study based on a fictional company. You begin by mapping the current state of the value stream, looking for all the sources of waste. After identifying the waste, you draw a map of a leaner future state and a value-stream plan to guide implementation and review progress regularly. Written by two experts with practical experience, Mike Rother and John Shook, the workbook makes complicated concepts simple. It teaches you the reasons for introducing a mapping program and how it fits into a lean conversion. With this easy- to-use product, a company gets the tool it needs to understand and use value-stream mapping so it can eliminate waste in production processes.

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Leadership, Professional Development, Reference, Engineering

102 pages, Spiral-bound

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Marek · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book if you already know the importance of Value stream mapping and you need to understand what it is all about. It is not final destination as it is obvious that one needs practice to really understand it. Any way it is a good starting point as well as guideline tha I will be coming to for clarification and deeper understanding.

[Pablo Rognone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple and practical view of the Value Stream Mapping process and its benefits.

Some reader may argue that this a pure manufacturing oriented, but with some imagination you could transpolate to a non manufacturing business.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written before “Complete Lean Enterprise: Value Stream Mapping for Administrative and Office Processes” but I read it afterwards. I felt the other book added more relevant details since this had more of a machine-shop floor perspective. It has a practical case study as well, but felt more like a Lean textbook.

[Mike Thelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good starter for value stream mapping.

[Doug Muterspaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any business minded person. Understanding His book is the fundamental to process improvement.

[Denis Vasilev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Неплохо и кратко по визуализации процессов, в основном производственных.

[Meeghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is for meeghan-reads-for-work era, which is a new and fun era in which meeghan's boss assigns books for meeghan to read, and meeghan then reads them!

i actually REALLY liked this. super interactive, and the principles and mechanics of VSM were very clearly laid out

[Tait Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Learning to See" by Mike Rother is an incredibly enlightening manual on implementing lean thinking into your manufacturing processes, although the principles apply to any and all process-oriented firms.

[Bronson Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helped me understand value stream mapping and where to start. Keeping this book as a reference will be helpful if you work as a lean practitioner. Read through it once to get a grasp of concepts, then again and take part in the practice activities.

[Saoxanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very helpull for me in my study

[Michele Hauser wainscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the practical application

[Samantha Remilong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Need to read in 15 page (~20-30 min) increments

[Kostiantyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty basic yet a must-read book. It is also a must-keep-on-the-table book to avoid any misconceptions about value stream mapping.

[Matthew Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good tool for beginners, intermediate, and expert. All can use this reference guide.

[Mohammed Barakat · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Learning to See’ is a good book, rather workbook, that shows you how to draw a current-state value stream mapping, then take it to the future-state map using lean concepts and techniques of continuous flow, pull, supermarkets, load-leveling, and FIFO. At the end it emphasizes the need to implement the future state map as a project that needs management support and involvement.

Although it uses practical examples, the reader needs to refer to other references to digest the concepts, calculations, and, more importantly, the integration of tools to realize the future state map. The main drawback of the book is that it focuses on applying lean to the manufacturing sector. I’d love to see a similar book that adopts service and continuous, rather than discrete, product industries.

I recommend this book for people new to lean as a start, but also advise reinforcing their understanding by additional references that give more depth in how to transfer a current state to a future leaner state.

[Kate Ned · Rating 3 out of 5]

Двоякое мнение. Для новичка в анализе бизнес процессов (особенно в области производства) это хорошая основа, базовые знания. Для более опытного аналитика не хватает глубины информации, слишком много знакомого и мало инсайтов вынесено. Но прочитать Дао Тойоту все таки нужно :)

[Gonzalo Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si no te interesa la manufactura lean, pasa de largo. Es más un manual de buenas prácticas, paso a paso incluso, que la fundamentación del método.
Práctico únicamente si lo usas en tu día a día o estés a cargo de proyectos de mejora

[Kate Beaumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gave me lots of good things to think about.

[Jorge A. Trejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente para entender el VSM

[Roberto Dawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro didático de estudo. Para ser relido várias vezes quando for construir o seu A3 ou precisar rever alguns conceitos.

[Mikaylie Kartchner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I still use it as a reference years later.

[John Gallagher]

Enjoyed it clear examples,

[James Wasson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pragmatic approach to VSM.

[M. Labadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very good book to learn about Value Stream Mapping (VSM), but not as the only source for the subject. You need to have done a value stream mapping workshops alongside an experienced person so that this book will be fully understood and more useful.

I found it to be a good reference and useful in helping team members in teVSM workshops get familiar with the concept. A bit too pricy

[Kyosti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very high level and fast paced.
Needs to be read again to grasp it better.

[Aanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for beginners to understand concept of Value stream mapping. Simple and clear explanation with mapping icons and current and future state illustrations.

[zoagli · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seminal book is not as relevant as it used to be. Times have moved on, and in our service-based economy, it’s no longer enough just to look at inventory. In fact, starting a Lean effort with a value-stream map is waste; practice Improvement Kata instead. Nonetheless, there are some takeaways I’d like to keep:

Your primary goal in a Lean production system is to produce only what the customer needs when they need it.

Lean measures three elements: (1) how often a part is completed in a process (cycle time); (2) how much of that time is “value-creating” time – what the customer will pay for; and (3) lead time – how long it takes for one piece to move through the entire system.

A value stream takes a “big picture” perspective and tackles the whole, not only the parts.

Identify value streams from the customer point-of-view: Whenever there is a product for a customer, there is a value stream; the challenge lies in seeing it.

Lean requires a commitment to the entire value stream; eliminating waste in one area but ignoring other areas does not improve overall production.

Create a “current-state map” while walking on the shop floor, drawing the “door-to-door” flow of production: start at shipping and work upstream, from customer to supplier.

Inventory usually accumulates and moves in batches in the disconnections between two processes. This is muda.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great resource for learning about Value Stream Mapping. The material is well organized, but primarily focused on manufacturing. Although that is the purpose of the material it would have been nice to see some side bars on applications to other fields. I also thought that the practice exercises, while good, did not fully exercise value streaming. I found that going out and actually doing a value stream map after reading the text was the most impactful. Overall, this was still a great book introducing a powerful tool.

[Sandra Soetanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for anyone who has an interest in one of Lean tools called Value Stream Mapping. The tool can help business everywhere to visualize its end-to-end processes, eliminating wastes (if any), and improve business process flow. The knowledge can be applied in both manufacturing and service industries, as long as there are input, process, and output. This book is highly recommended for those who work in business process management / business process improvement field.

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

É um livro prático para aplicação de MFV para as empresas. Ensina simbologia e como se faz a construção de um fluxo de valor.
Novamente ressalto aqui a aplicação dos exemplos referentes a uma empresa ABC, perfeita em suas aplicações e difíceis de serem relacionadas de fato com o mundo real.

Mas consigo ver agora como é importante trabalhar em cima da padronização de produtos e processos com a finalidade de reduzir a variação.