VSM a powerful diagnostic and planning tool for a successful Lean implementation: a Tunisian case study of an auto parts manufacturing firm

For the past few years, many manufacturing organisations have been trying to get ‘lean’. A headlong rush to become lean also resulted in a scattered implementation of lean projects/tools often associated with a lack of a shared lean vision. This prevents them from effectively reaping the benefits of lean manufacturing paradigm. Meanwhile, many researchers and academics point out that any lean transformation initiative will be more effective if it starts by implementing Value Stream Mapping technique. However, little empirical work is available to provide real answers to practitioners on how to really apply Value Stream Mapping (VSM) as a diagnostic and planning tool. The experience of applying VSM in a real manufacturing case study has revealed that VSM has the capability to diagnose a manufacturing system with a lean perspective and to identify the opportunities for various lean projects/tools. The results demonstrate and validate authors’ finding that VSM is a good starting tool for transforming any enterprise into lean. They incite researchers/practitioners to start to enhance/extend their approach towards lean by integrating the standard VSM approach with additional lean tools to enable people not only to see but also to communicate and to manage their processes.