Chapter 5. Create Connected Process Flow 109The main point is not that you either use one-piece flow or you’re not lean. The
point is that the focus should be on waste elimination. If you have a supermarket
replenishment process, take out a kanban and stress the system. If you have a FIFO
lane, reduce the lane by one piece and it will force continuous improvement.
Reflect and Learn from the Process
1. Using your current state map as a guide, walk the path of the
material flow once again. During this walk identify processes
that are inherently inflexible where continuous flow is not
currently possible. Do not attempt this exercise from your
office. You must see each of these processes to understand
the cause and effect relationships that prevent flow.
a. Identify the inflexible processes on your map.
b. List the cause of the inflexibility for these processes, such
as long setup times or shared resources that supply mul-
tiple parts or processes.
2. Evaluate each customer-supplier relationship in the value
stream.
a. Determine whether each connection will utilize a FIFO-style
connection (if flow-through is possible), or a supermarket-
style connection.
b. Develop a plan to define each connection in terms of
what will be included, how many (define the unit of
measure), and where the material will be.
c. Determine whether the space needs to be dedicated,
whether containers or carts are dedicated, and whether
the resources are dedicated to this connection.
d. Identify the control mechanism for each connection
and how you plan to make it visual and easy to verify
adherence.
3. Good flow depends upon good balancing of cycle times
along the value stream.
a. Measure the cycle times of each operation in your value
stream, and create a cycle balance chart to determine the
current operation balance.
b. As you walk the value stream, identify the physical signs
of work imbalance (such as waiting, or inventory accu-
mulation), and highlight these on the current state map.