Summary

This chapter provided instruction on the critical metrics that help us evaluate the effectiveness of our value streams from a Lean-oriented perspective. You also learned how to go about gathering useful Lean metrics (step five in our generic VSM methodology).

While VSM teams can gather and analyze metrics manually, this is a labor-intensive process. In contrast, modern VSM tools have become increasingly important, in large part because of their ability to capture and display such information in real time. Moreover, the analytics and what-if capabilities of VSM tools support future state analysis.

In the next chapter, you will learn how to conduct future state mapping exercises across three distinct phases spanning customer demand, continuous flows, and leveling. Before we get to that chapter, take a couple of moments to answer the following questions. Don't worry if you don't recall the information or quite understand all of the questions. Going back to find...