Value Stream Mapping (VSM for short) is a term heard more and more frequently these days, particularly in business improvement. Those who have been involved in business improvement for a while however will be able to tell stories about seeing magnificent maps with multiple steps, a rainbow of coloured notes and a huge amount of data, created enthusiastically and displayed with pride by their creators. When asked what has been done as a result of all the work to improve the organisation, the answer sadly is little or nothing.
So what is VSM, why the interest in it, and why the apparent problems with little work being done as a result of the activity?
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