Process mapping
Map a process end to end with the people involved, on a wall and with Post-it notes, to bring out the waiting, the loops and the waste that nobody sees anymore, then deal with them in an action plan.
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This course is intended for team leaders, methods technicians, continuous improvement facilitators and department managers who have a process that "drags" — a change request that takes three weeks, a changeover that overruns, a batch record that gets redone twice — without being able to say where the time goes. By the end, you will know how to define the boundaries of a process, bring the right people together, map it step by step with simple symbols, measure waiting times and rework loops, and leave the room with a dated action plan. The process mapping covered here is the Lean version, close to flow process analysis; it is not the process mapping of an ISO 9001 quality system, which answers a different question.
What you will be able to do
- Distinguish Lean process mapping from VSM and from quality process mapping, and know when to choose it.
- Define the boundaries of a process (start, end, level of detail) and put together a team that includes one or two outsiders.
- Map a process on the wall with the usual symbols and fill in the data for each step: working time, waiting, inspection, constraints.
- Identify and number the Muda, calculate the total lead time, the first-time-right rate and the number of loops.
- Turn the findings into actions with an owner, a deadline, and a criterion that tells you two weeks later whether it worked.
The path
- What a process map shows, and what it is not 4 min
- Preparing the workshop: scope, level of detail, team 4 min
- Drawing the steps on the wall and filling in each Post-it 5 min
- Reading the map: loops, variable waits, unclear roles 4 min
- Solve in session, schedule the rest, close out 4 min
Prerequisites
No prior Lean tool is required. You need to know a process in your shop floor or department closely enough to name its steps and the people involved, and be able to mobilise those people for half a day to a full day.
The closing quiz
The topic ends with a 7-question quiz, and a certificate is issued on success.