Facilitating The Present State

1. Preparation

►Identify management objectives

Discuss the problems, products and process with management and identify their objectives.

►Select a preliminary product

In many situations, problems involve a broad class of products that may have different processes or routings. Try to determine if the solutions for one product will apply to the entire class. If not, separate charts may be required for several sub-classes.

Select a product that is fairly typical or representative, not the most complex; not the simplest. A brief walk through the plant will also help. As facilitator, you do not need to know the details of the process at this point. Only a general knowledge of the types of processes and their physical arrangement is necessary.

►Prepare the room

Other than provisions for drawing the map, the normal requirements for a meeting room apply.

Process maps can become quite large. They should be on a single piece of paper that everyone can see and read. This may require covering one or more entire walls, from floor to a 7' height,  with paper.

Computers are not helpful here. They only display a small part of the map, the drawing technique is clumsy and they distract from the mapping.

2. Open The Meeting

Start with the usual introductions and state the objectives. It is unnecessary to explain the charting techniques or symbols in detail. The team will learn by doing.

Tell the group that they will be "charting the sequence of events that affect the product." Explain that they should put themselves in the place of the product and ask "What is being done to me."

3. Select The Product

Discuss product selection with the group and get agreement on a specific product or part number. Have them imagine a very specific item even down to the color and serial number. This is important.

Charting a group or family, rather than a single product, introduces complexity and disagreement. Even a very similar family is likely to have differences in the process. It is much easier to map a single part number and then reconcile differences for other parts.

When items are batched, have the group imagine a particular item somewhere in the middle of the batch. It helps to have a sample of the product.

4. Determine the Boundaries

Process maps are most useful at the micro or macro level. First, have the team describe the process in very general terms and obtain their overview. From this, suggest a starting boundary.

5. Chart The Process

►Identify Major Components

Ask some general questions about the materials and components. It is unnecessary to list all components at this time. As each component joins the product, use a horizontal arrow and label it. Later you will start at the beginning for each component and join that part of the chart with this arrow.

►Select The Dominant Component

The dominant component is the item with the most events. People generally select this from their general knowledge. It it should turn out that some other component actually dominates the process, the chart can be rearranged later.

Layout the chart as shown below. It will likely become messy and cluttered before completion. This is not a problem. After the session, rearrange and transfer the chart to another sheet or a computerized program.

If you use a computer, plot the chart on a single large sheet. Breaking it into 8-1/2"X11" sheets loses visual impact.

►Document The Events

Draw the first symbol, explaining it as you draw. For example: "Let's start where the material crosses the property line. Does it come in a truck? (Yes)." "This arrow represents a Transport event."

Question closely about events between value added steps. The team often neglects moves and delays in the beginning. As the chart progresses they will grasp the idea and begin to identify all events.

5. Summing It Up

Have the group count elements and prepare an element frequency histogram. It also helps to create an "Ideal State" Map (below) that contains only the value-added processes.

Ask for comments on the process and tell the group to think about this process and set a time to re-convene and determine ways to improve it.