Value streams, value stream mapping and processes

A value stream

In business architecture, a value stream is the end-to-end series of stages through which an organization delivers something of value to a stakeholder. It starts with a trigger (a customer places an order, a role needs filling), passes through stages that each produce something the next one needs, and ends with an outcome the stakeholder would recognize.

Each value stream in this catalog names its trigger and outcome, and links every stage to the capabilities it relies on. That link is the point: it shows which capabilities a stream cannot work without, and which capabilities serve many streams and therefore deserve more attention.

Value stream mapping

Value stream mapping comes from Lean practice. It draws the material flow and the information flow of one product family, with a data box under each step, first as it is today and then as it should be. It is a tool for finding waste: the waiting, rework and handoffs between steps that add time but no value.

• Lead time: how long one item takes from start to finish, waiting included.
• Process time: how long the work itself takes; the gap between it and lead time is mostly waiting.
• Cycle time: how often a step completes one unit, which tells you its throughput.
• Percent complete and accurate: how often a step's output can be used by the next step without rework.

A process

A process is a defined sequence of activities with an owner and an output. Several processes, often across departments, make up one value stream stage, and the stream is only as fast as the slowest handoff between them. Model the stream to see the whole, and the process to fix a link.

Two kinds of stream

Most streams deliver the organization's offer: an order becomes a completed sale, a demand becomes a working change. Others look after something across its life: an asset from acquisition to retirement, a supplier from onboarding to exit, data from creation to disposal. Both kinds use the same capabilities; naming the kind helps decide who owns the stream.