Value stream mapping application in faucet manufacturing

Providing products and services to customers is the main reason behind the existance of business units. Core characteristics of activities that are done for providing these products and services should be adding properties demanded by customers, meaning creating value. However, all activities in the product/service production process do not create value to customers. Defining and eliminating non value adding activities will ensure producing customer-demanded products/services with right cost and thus selling with a price acceptable to customers. Main purpose of the Lean Manufacturing, which is an approach started as Toyota Production System in Toyota in 1950s and became widely accepted in many industries starting from 1980s, is to maximize the value created to customers in a production process by eliminating non value added elements. One important component in this approach is Value Stream Mapping, a technique aiming to analyze and improve the contribution of activities to value. In this study, impovements in the faucet body production process in a faucet factory was investigated using Value Stream Mapping Technique. Total lead time, which was 79,83 days at time begining, would be reduced to 5 days with planned improvements.