Operational Excellence - Business Value Stream Map and Improvement Identification

1

Lecturer Name: Finbarr Sheehy

Subject: Level 7 BA in Pharmaceutical Business Operations - Operational Excellence

Assignment Title Operational Excellence – Business Value Stream Map and Improvement Identification

The learning outcomes for this module are as follows,

1. Discuss the key principles that define business success in any organisation.

2. Define the principles and applications of lean thinking and the associated tools used to create value and

eliminate waste in a defined process.

3. Map typical processes from start to finish and identify critical activities & parameters (cycle times, yields,

etc.) for each aspect of the process.

4. Define the principle of the six-sigma methodology and the associated tools used to identify root cause,

eliminate defects and reduce variation in an existing process.

5. Describe the concept of corrective action preventative action (CAPA) and correctly apply the

methodology to the pharmaceutical industry.

6. Correctly utilise concepts of data visualisation to analyse, understand, trend and present data in a coherent

manner.

The learner will identify a business that they are familiar with and develop a value stream map of a specific

product line for that business. They will identify areas of value and non-value, citing typical measures that are

appropriate for that business. The learner will finally identify potential lean tools and solutions that will optimise

the process.

Assignment Details Percentage

In Excel, construct a Value Stream Map of a business process. This process can be

of your own choosing but must outline the following items,

❑ Details of the Customers

❑ Details of the Customer Requirements – Quantities, Frequencies,

Deliveries

❑ Demands defined of the Suppliers

❑ An outline of the internal process flow

❑ For each process step outline some critical parameters, examples could

include duration, inventory, yield, wastage, resources, etc.

❑ An identification of Value-Add Activities and Non-Value Add Activities

❑ Details of Customer deliveries

40%

2

❑ Identify some potential improvements in the Value Stream based on your

observations. These improvements can relate to the lean wastes or process

instabilities or errors. Provide some evidence that supports your reason for

improvement. This evidence can be estimated data, observations, blockages,

delays, excess inventory, etc.

20%

❑ Pick two areas you identified for improvement and suggest how improvements to

these processes could be implemented using the lean tools of 5S, SMED, Kanban,

error proofing or otherwise. The use of Process mapping would also be important

to define the process before and after the improvement.

30%

❑ Redraw the overall Value Stream Map with the improvements implemented and

indicate the potential benefits that these changes could make to the overall Value

Stream.

10%

Word/Page

count:

Overall Assignment is 5- 10 pages Total %: 50% of marks for OE module

Submission

details: Submit softcopy of assignment on Moodle. Assignment can be submitted as a single

document or as multiple documents.

Additional

Information:

Marks Awarded for under the following headings:

Clarity of the Value

Stream Map (VSM)

Clarity on potential

improvements

Clarity on

application of Lean

Tools and Methods

Clarity on the

Revised VSM

40 20 30 10

Learning outcomes addressed and assessed in this assignment:

1. Define the principles and applications of lean thinking and the associated tools used to create value and

eliminate waste in a defined process.

2. Map typical processes from start to finish and identify critical activities & parameters (cycle times, yields,

etc.) for each aspect of the process.

3. Define the principle of the six sigma methodology and the associated tools used to identify root cause,

eliminate defects and reduce variation in an existing process.

4. Correctly utilise concepts of data visualisation to analyse, understand, trend and present data in a coherent

manner.

3

Grading Scheme for the Assignment

Criteria

Descriptor

Clarity of the Value Stream

Map (VSM)

Clarity on potential

improvements

Clarity on application

of Lean Tools and

Methods

Clarity on the

Revised VSM

Weighting to

total 100

40 20 30 10

80-100 Great clarity in the

explanation of the

proposed value stream.

The VSM is well

constructed and described

in a language that is

understood. The VSM has

excellent detail in terms of

it components – customer,

product/service, process

steps, measurements and

symbols. Extensive

evidence of reading of top

quality sources.

Great clarity in the

explanation of potential

improvements in the

VSM. The improvements

are relevant and

described in a language

that is understood. The

benefits of such

improvements are well

documented and well

researched.

Great clarity in the

explanation of how

the lean tools could

be utilised to make

improvements in the

VSM.

A wide range of tools

are identified and

the improvements

are explained in

detail.

Exceptional clarity

on the presentation

of the revised VSM.

Benefits are

demonstrated, and

impacts illustrated

in the VSM.

70-79 Very good clarity in the

explanation of the

proposed value stream.

The VSM is well

constructed and described

in a language that is

understood. The VSM has

very good detail in terms of

it components – customer,

product/service, process

steps, measurements and

symbols. Very good

evidence of reading of top-

quality sources.

Very good clarity in the

explanation of potential

improvements in the

VSM. The improvements

are relevant and

described in a language

that is understood. The

benefits of such

improvements are well

documented and well

researched.

Very good clarity in

the explanation of

how the lean tools

could be utilised to

make improvements

in the VSM.

A range of tools are

identified and the

improvements are

explained in detail.

Very good clarity

on the presentation

of the revised VSM.

Benefits are

demonstrated, and

impacts illustrated

in the VSM.

60-69 Good clarity in the

explanation of the

proposed value stream.

The VSM is well

constructed and described

in a language that is

understood. The VSM has

very good detail in terms of

it components – customer,

product/service, process

steps, measurements and

symbols. Very good

evidence of reading of top-

quality sources.

Good clarity in the

explanation of potential

improvements in the

VSM. The improvements

are relevant and

described in a language

that is understood. The

benefits of such

improvements are well

documented and well

researched.

Good clarity in the

explanation of how

the lean tools could

be utilised to make

improvements in the

VSM.

A range of tools are

identified and the

improvements are

explained in detail.

Good clarity on the

presentation of the

revised VSM.

Benefits are

demonstrated, and

impacts illustrated

in the VSM.

51-59 The explanation of VSM is

clear but needs some

interpretation and

simplification. Some

elements of ‘cut and paste’

evident in the explanation.

The model is referenced

from sources, some of

which are considered of

good quality.

The explanation of the

potential improvements

is clear but needs some

interpretation and

simplification. Some

elements of ‘cut and

paste’ evident in the

explanation. The

benefits of such

improvements are well

referenced from some

limited sources.

Reasonable clarity in

the explanation of

how the lean tools

could be utilised to

make improvements

in the VSM. A limited

range of tools are

referenced and the

improvements are

explained.

Reasonable clarity

on the presentation

of the revised VSM.

Benefits are

demonstrated but

are generic in

nature.

4

Criteria

Descriptor

Clarity of the Value Stream

Map (VSM)

Clarity on potential

improvements

Clarity on application

of Lean Tools and

Methods

Clarity on the

Revised VSM

Weighting to

total 100

40 20 30 10

40-50 The explanation of VSM is

provided but needs some

interpretation. Strong

elements of ‘cut and paste’

evident in the explanation.

The VSM is referenced

from limited sources, some

of which are considered of

reasonable quality.

The explanation of the

potential improvements

provided but needs

some interpretation.

Strong elements of ‘cut

and paste’ evident in the

explanation. The

benefits are referenced

from limited sources,

some of which are

considered of

reasonable quality.

Adequate clarity in

the explanation of

how the lean tools

could be utilised to

make improvements

in the VSM. A very

limited range of tools

are referenced and

explained.

Adequate clarity

on the presentation

of the revised VSM.

Some limited

benefits are

demonstrated but

are generic in

nature.

31-39 The explanation of VSM is

poorly provided.

Significant elements of ‘cut

and paste’ evident in the

explanation.

The model is referenced

from extremely limited

and/or unknown sources,

blogs articles, Wikipedia,

etc.

The explanation of the

potential improvements

is poorly provided.

Significant elements of

‘cut and paste’ evident

in the explanation. The

elements are referenced

from extremely limited

and/or unknown

sources, blogs articles,

Wikipedia, etc.

Poor clarity in the

explanation of how

the lean tools could

be utilised to make

improvements in the

VSM. Very limited

range of tools are

referenced and

explained.

Poor clarity on the

presentation of the

revised VSM. Some

limited benefits are

demonstrated but

are generic in

nature.

0-30 The explanation of VSM is

unclear with no evidence of

research and explanation.

Significant evidence of ‘cut

and paste’ in the

explanation. A significant

lack of references of quality

or relevance.

The explanation of the

potential improvements

is very poorly provided.

Significant elements of

‘cut and paste’ evident

in the explanation. The

elements are referenced

from extremely limited

and/or unknown

sources, blogs articles,

Wikipedia, etc.

Very poor clarity in

the explanation of

how the lean tools

could be utilised to

make improvements

in the VSM. Very

limited range of tools

are referenced and

explained.

Very poor clarity

on the presentation

of the revised VSM.

Some limited

benefits are

demonstrated but

are generic in

nature.