Start With Customer Value, Not Internal Activity
Distinguish customer-valued work from internal activity before selecting an improvement target.
Activity is not the same as value. Start Outside In Lean asks what problem the customer needs solved. In an internal process, the customer may be a new hire, a sales rep, a patient, a supplier, or another team. Define value in their terms before you touch the process chart. Measure the Whole Stream DMAIC prevents a local win from masquerading as improvement. Baseline the end-to-end outcome: elapsed lead time, rework rate, first-pass completion, and handoff waits. Label Before Fixing Value-stream mapping separates value-added work, necessary non-value work, and waste. That label lets you reduce the right thing without breaking…
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