Improving the Extended Value Stream: Lean for the Entire Supply Chain, written by Darren Dolcemascolo and published by Productivity Press, provides a blueprint for creating a lean supply chain.  This website is intended to help our readers and anyone else interested in creating lean supply chains to accomplish their goals.

Lean and the Extended Value Stream

What is lean?  "Lean" is the name that James Womack gave to the Toyota Production System in the book the Machine that Changed The World.  Lean was the term that best described Toyota's system versus the rest of the world's automotive manufacturers at the time.  Many companies have since applied lean thinking to their organizations with varying degrees of success.  Applying lean to the entire supply chain is not a new concept, but very few have had success doing it.

What is the value stream?  The value stream includes all of the actions required to get a product or service into the hands of the customer.  It includes both material and information flow.  The extended value stream is the value stream that includes the entire supply chain including several tiers of suppliers, facilities, and customers.

What is a value stream map?  Value stream mapping, a methodology introduced to the U.S. in the book Learning to See by John Shook and Mike Rother published by the Lean Enterprise Institute, is a tool Toyota uses for identifying waste in the value stream and creating an improvement plan.  The current state map is a graphical representation of the value stream showing material and information flow as it currently exists.  The future state map shows an improved value stream with less inventory and a shorter lead time as flow, pull, and leveling (all tenets of the Toyota Production System) are introduced.  The ultimate purpose of value stream mapping is to increase profitability (though many have lost sight of this goal) and cash flow.

Why was Improving the Extended Value Stream: Lean for the Entire Supply Chain written?  This book, released in April 2006, is intended to give the reader a step by step plan for transforming the extended value stream into a lean supply chain.   It goes beyond mapping the value stream and includes a strategy for outsourcing and supplier selection, applying kaizen to suppliers, and putting in place a method for continuous improvement of the lean supply chain.  While several books have been written on particular aspects of the lean supply chain, none includes a step-by-step methodology for achieving it until now.

Contact Information

Postal address

5620 Paseo Del Norte, Ste 127-332, Carlsbad, CA 92008

Electronic mail

General Information: info@lean-supply-chain.com

The author is the co-founder of EMS Consulting Group, Inc.  and the featured writer in their monthly newsletter Learning to Lean.   To visit EMS, click here.

Send mail to info@lean-supply-chain.com with questions or comments about this web site.
© EMS Consulting Group, Inc. 2006-2007.  All Rights Reserved.