By Jason Oliver and Kristen Kinsella

Value stream mapping for small businesses and organizations

In business, every dollar counts, every minute counts. Our businesses are made up of people, processes and technologies. Invariably there is waste in any system but how do you spot the waste in a sea of processes that involve overlapping groups of people leveraging different technologies? You visualize it. One way to imagine this conceptually is a tire that has a small leak somewhere, but you can’t see it. How do you find the leak? You hold it underwater and look for the bubbles. Value stream mapping works like that, for your business. But there are many other benefits as well! Read on to learn more about the ins and outs of organizing a business with this process, made well-known by Toyota. Following the article you will find a fun outline of if the sitcom Cheers were a membership organization.

What is Value Stream Mapping (VSM)?

VSM involves creating a visual representation of all the steps in a process, from the initial request to the final delivery. This map can include every action, whether it adds value or not, and helps identify areas of waste and opportunities for improvement. By visualizing an entire process, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of how your operations truly work and where resource depleting inefficiencies are hiding. Beyond that, a value stream map can identify the handoffs and interfaces between different processes in your business to identify friction and pain points. 

Identifying and eliminating waste

One of the primary benefits of VSM is its ability to identify waste within a process. Waste can take many forms, including excess inventory, unnecessary movement of materials, waiting times, overproduction, and defects. By mapping out the entire process, businesses can pinpoint these areas of waste and develop strategies to eliminate them. This leads to more streamlined operations, reduced costs, and improved efficiency. 

Focused energy on customer outcomes

VSM focuses on delivering value to the customer, which should always be the north star in any business. By identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities, businesses can ensure that every step in the process contributes to the final product or service that the customer receives! This not only improves the quality of the product or service but also enhances customer satisfaction. When customers receive higher value, they are more likely to remain loyal and recommend your business to others.

Creating a value stream map requires input from various departments and stakeholders within the organization. This collaborative effort fosters better communication and understanding among team members. When everyone has a clear picture of the entire process, it becomes easier to work together towards common goals. Improved communication and collaboration can lead to more innovative solutions and a more cohesive work environment.

Small staff orgs have an advantage here! Leverage your size and lack of ‘silos’ to make simple visual maps of value that identify areas to be worked on.

VSM is not a one-time activity but a continuous process. Once the initial map is created and improvements are made, the map should be revisited regularly to ensure your changes are working and identify fresh new areas of opportunity. This commitment to continuous improvement ensures that your business remains agile and responsive to changes in the market and your customers’ needs. It also fosters a culture of ongoing learning and development within the organization.
 

Value stream mapping provides valuable data and insights that can inform your strategic decision-making process. By understanding the flow of materials and information, you can make more informed choices about resource allocation, process changes, and investments. This data-driven approach can help you ensure that decisions are aligned with the overall goals and objectives of your organization. And as you know, a change or decision in one part of your business may have implications for other areas that are not readily apparent. The ability to quickly identify these ramifications can reduce unintended consequences while drastically improving your speed to market. 

One of the key outcomes of VSM is the reduction of lead times, the time that passes between the start of a critical process and when it is completed. By identifying and eliminating bottlenecks and inefficiencies, you can speed up your processes and deliver products or services to customers more quickly. Shorter lead times can provide a competitive advantage, as customers increasingly expect fast and reliable service.

Involving your employees in the VSM process can boost their engagement and morale. When employees see that their input is valued and that they can contribute to meaningful improvements, they are more likely to feel invested in the success of the organization. This increased engagement can lead to higher productivity, lower turnover, and a more positive workplace culture.

Case study: Toyota

Toyota is a prime example of a company that has successfully implemented VSM. The company used VSM as part of its Toyota Production System (TPS) to streamline its manufacturing processes and eliminate waste. This approach has helped Toyota become one of the most efficient and profitable automakers in the world. By continuously refining its processes and focusing on delivering value to customers, Toyota has maintained a competitive edge in the automotive industry.

By providing a clear visual representation of an entire process, VSM helps you identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to address them. Incorporating VSM into your business can be a differentiator between you and your competitors and an absolute game-changer for your decision-making process. VSM drives continuous improvement and ensures that every step in your process adds value to the customer. No matter what industry you are in, VSM can help you act fast, act confidently and achieve your goal of delivering exceptional, continuously improving value to your customers.

Actions/Tools that can help:

Toyota's journey with Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a cornerstone of its renowned Toyota Production System (TPS) and a key factor in its global success as an efficient and profitable automaker. VSM has enabled Toyota to meticulously analyze and improve its manufacturing processes by identifying and eliminating waste, ensuring a continuous flow of value to the customer.  

Below is a curated set of resources that shed light on various aspects of Toyota's VSM journey!

Resource roundup: Mastering manufacturing excellence with value stream mapping with Toyota

Lean supply chain

"Learning from the Toyota production system" by Freemind Consulting. This resource explains VSM as a vital lean supply chain tool within TPS used to distinguish between wasteful and value-adding activities. It particularly notes that Toyota's application of VSM focuses on preventing overproduction. The piece emphasizes how VSM helps in visualizing material and information flow, exposing waste, and developing plans for continuous improvement, ultimately leading to shorter lead times, higher quality, and lower costs.  

Value Stream Mapping Tutorial

"What is VSM?" by ASQ (American Society for Quality). This tutorial explains that the original VSM template was developed by Toyota. It details how Toyota employed VSM to gain a comprehensive overview of its operations, enabling the company to systematically remove wasteful activities while preserving the integrity of the manufacturing process. It defines the "value stream" aspect as focusing on adding value from the customer's perspective without generating waste for the company.

Historical and Nuanced Perspectives

Value stream mapping from inside Toyota

"Value Stream Mapping" by Toyota Lean Management Centre (UK). This resource offers an internal Toyota perspective, explaining that VSM is often referred to as "Material & Information Flow (M&I)" within the company. It outlines the purpose of VSM: to visualize the timeline from order to cash collection and to reduce this timeline by eliminating non-value-added activities. This source details how Toyota itself views and teaches VSM, emphasizing its use for understanding both current and desired future states of any process.  

These resources above, collectively paint a comprehensive picture of Toyota's pioneering and evolving use of Value Stream Mapping. They show VSM not just as a static tool, but as an integral part of a dynamic system of continuous improvement that has been central to Toyota's enduring success in the automotive industry. Keep reading because in honor of George Wendt (Norm from "Cheers"), we have generated (with ChatGPT) an example of how to implement a VSM  for the struggling membership organization, "Cheers," whose patron numbers had dwindled down to basically just the forever loyal, Norm.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name...eventually! AI-driven example of value stream mapping

A graduated "Cheers"-Inspired VSM implementation plan written with AI for a membership-basbed Business

_{Imagine your membership-based organization is Cheers — that cozy bar in Boston where Norm always has a seat and Cliff always has a fact. Only lately... it’s been a little too cozy. Norm’s the only one showing up!}

To fix this, we’re going with a frothy pint of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to:

• Identify waste (the empty stools)
• Streamline flow (how fast we get a new member from “Hey, cool bar” to “This is my bar”)
• Serve value (the warm welcome, the perfect pour, and Sam knowing your name by day two)

Step-by-step implementation plan: “VSM on Tap”

This implementation plan is designed in 4 phases, easily loadable into any project management software (Jira, Asana, Trello, etc.). Each phase includes:

• Goal (What we’re fixing)
• Action Steps (TPS-style tools)
• Cheesy Cheers metaphors for sure

PHASE 1: The inventory audit (a.k.a. “Who’s still on the bar bab?”)

Goal: Discover your current state — the actual membership journey, warts and all.

Action Steps:

• Conduct a Value Stream Mapping session: Map every step from first contact to membership renewal.
• Interview members (and ex-members): Where did we lose ‘em? What kept them?
• Identify types of waste: long sign-up times, unclear benefits, boring email drips.

Imagine Carla (front desk staff) slinging beers blindfolded. That’s what your process looks like without VSM. Let’s take the blindfold off and figure out why Norm is the only regular.

PHASE 2: Just-in-time membership (JITM™... kinda)

Goal: Build a seamless process that serves potential members exactly what they need, when they need it.

Action Steps:

• Develop a just-in-time content pipeline: automate emails/videos based on user activity (like Sam perfectly timing your next round).
• Eliminate bottlenecks: simplify the sign-up, ditch the 14-question form.
• Train staff to recognize high-intent members and act fast (JIT-style).

Cheers metaphor:
Cliff walks in. Instead of listening to a 10-minute pitch on IPA brewing, he just wants a Bud Light. Give people the “beer” they want—quickly.

PHASE 3: Build for the front line (automation with a human touch)

Goal: Build systems that notice when something’s off and stop the pour.

Action Steps:

• Install alerts for system breakdowns (e.g., if a lead hasn't been contacted in 48 hours).
• Empower the team to pause the process and fix issues at the source.
• Build standard procedures but allow for staff creativity (Sam-style charisma, not robot-bartender vibes).

Cheers metaphor:
If Woody pours a beer with foam up to the ceiling, he shouldn’t just serve it. He should fix it and let someone know the tap is off. Same goes for broken signup flows.

PHASE 4: Kaizen Happy Hour (Continuous Improvement, Weekly Specials)

Goal: Make improvement part of the daily vibe.

Action Steps:

• Hold monthly kaizen reviews: What worked? What flopped like Cliff’s jokes?
• Reward staff suggestions: a gift card, a high-five, or a round (of applause... or actual rounds).
• Build a dashboard for metrics (retention, engagement, sign-up funnel health).

Cheers Metaphor:
The bar never stays the same: New jukebox, new menu, new Norm joke. Keep iterating—because loyalty doesn’t come from “set it and forget it.”

VSM-driven kanban card examples (ready for your PM software!)