Karen Martin - Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation

Value stream mapping is often misunderstood and underutilized. Strategically, it can be a Rosetta stone to help bring disparate organizational silos together and a catalyst for stimulating and prioritizing enterprise-wide transformation. Karen and Mike have produced another terrific guide. Read it, practice it, share it, teach it.

Steve Bell, author, Run Grow Transform

Value Stream Mapping is a must read that should be immediately followed by a must do. Its a straightforward approach to achieve a truly Lean supply chain.

Ed Brekke, Vice President, Schneider Production System, Schneider Electric

One of the most important tools in the Lean toolbox is value stream mapping. Done correctlyespecially in non-manufacturing environmentsit can serve as the foundation for a much broader Lean transformation. Martin and Osterling have created the new bible for value stream mapping. It is a must have for improving value streams in any industry. As they correctly point out very few things are unmanageable once they are distilled to their basic components.

Art Byrne, former CEO, The Wiremold Company, and author, The Lean Turnaround

In Value Stream Mapping, Karen and Mike not only provide a great how-to book for transforming value streams, they also demonstrate the benefits that taking a holistic view can have on an organizations culture and commitment to customer value. There is something to learn for the novice and expert on every page.

Jeff Chester, Chief Revenue Officer & Senior Vice President, Availity

Everyone in the office looks the same... a person in a cubicle facing a computer monitor. Value stream analysis helps a team learn to truly see the work and then to collaborate for improvement. This book brilliantly describes the process with good examples so you can get moving!

Jean Cunningham, author, Real Numbers

Martin and Osterling describe why value stream mapping is necessary for any organization and how it can be used as the means to achieve strategic transformation. Theyve done a fabulous job at explaining the what, why, and how, as well as the pitfalls to avoid. Follow the guidelines in this book and watch your performance soar.

Raju Deshpande, Senior Vice President, East West Bank

Value Stream Mapping is a wise and practical guide that will help you lead transformation efforts in your organization. While some think of value stream mapping as a Lean tool, Martin and Osterling rightly emphasize the strategic value of looking at the big picture and improving your entire value stream from suppliers to the customer and all points in between. The book is full of tips and lessons learned to help you avoid mistakes and maximize the results that you get from the time invested into proper value stream mapping.

Mark Graban, author, Lean Hospitals

Value stream mapping has helped many organizations understand not only how to see, but to also improve and enhance the value they produce and deliver to their customers. But understanding how to accomplish this in information-intensive businesses has been a substantial gap in business and industry. Martin and Osterling unleash and deliver the principles, practices, and tools for organizations to not only fill this gap but, from their extensive hands-on experience, to understand, actuate, and extensively transform value streams to maximize enterprise-wide customer value.

Jim Huntzinger, President & Founder, Lean Frontiers, and author, Lean Cost Management

Despite decades of viewing value stream mapping as the core tool of Lean transformations, there is still confusion. Karen and Mike put mapping in its proper perspective as a methodology for getting high-performing teams to see waste, share a future state vision, and build meaningful actions that are carried out with passion and purpose.

Jeffrey Liker, author, The Toyota Way

Value stream mapping stands as the best tool available to really grasp whats happening in your supply chainallowing you to focus your improvement activities for maximum benefit. Nobody does a better job than Martin and Osterling of laying out the nuts and bolts of engaging all levels in your organization in the application of value stream mapping to feed high impact continuous improvement. This is one of the best books available on the subjectbuy it, teach it, use itand your supply chain will become a competitive weapon!

Kevin Limbach, Vice President, U.S. Operations, TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company

Martin and Osterling have written an excellent book that shows you how to do value stream mapping and do it right. Follow their advice and your organization will get the profoundly radical change required to better serve your customers and create unprecedented profits and agility.

Brian Maskell, author, Practical Lean Accounting

Building on past works, Value Stream Mapping goes beyond the tool itself and effectively describes the leadership practices required to identify, improve, and manage value streams. Of particular note is the discussion on sustaining improvements, which is often difficult or even ignored. Karen and Mike describe how appropriate leadership systems can make it surprisingly easy. Wide-ranging examples make this book valuable to any industry or function.

Kevin Meyer, former President, Specialty Silicone Fabricators, Inc., and author, Evolving Excellence

Value stream mapping has evolved from its roots as a tool used by geeks to reimagine and reconfigure manufacturing operations to a process to enable deep organizational intervention and transformation. With Value Stream Mapping, Karen Martin and Mike Osterling provide an outstanding guide for practitioners engaged in the challenging work of improving the horizontal flow of value across organizations.

John Shook, Chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute, and coauthor, Learning to See

This is more than a primer on value stream mapping. Martin and Osterling hone in on the key conditions that should be set in place to ensure a successful outcome, and how value stream mapping can better align the leadership team. These pearls of wisdom and insight come from their many years facilitating and deploying Lean in a wide range of organizations, companies, and institutions.

Rick Sunamoto, Vice President, Manufacturing, HM Electronics, Inc.

No complex journey should start without a map. Karen and Mike use a clear writing style and strong examples to drive this point home and to provide the tools needed to improve planning and performance in any organization. Their book is an important addition to the leadership arsenal.

Daryl Tol, President & CEO, Florida Hospital Volusia Flagler Market, Adventist Health System

Value stream mapping is a powerful tool in the hands of smart organizations. Martin and Osterlings latest book is a practical guide that will lead you through the important steps to creating value for your customers. Whether you work in healthcare or any other service industry, value stream mapping can improve your organization as it has mine.

Daniel Wolcott, President & CEO, Takoma Regional Hospital, a member of the Adventist Health System

Karen Martin and Mike Osterling have done it again! Value Stream Mapping provides the clarity and step-by-step guidance that is sorely needed to help Lean practitioners and leaders in the office. The experience and relevance they provide will make this the latest well-thumbed and often-referenced guide to enterprise value stream mapping.

Jerry Wright, President, LEANwRIGHT, Inc. and former Senior Vice President, Lean and Enterprise Excellence, DJO Global, Inc.