This assignment will provide you a detailed understanding of how to create Value Stream Maps and how to use them to improve your current process.

For this assignment, your company makes baseballs and it's your job to make sure the production line flows smoothly, producing quality baseballs for the Major League! It's challenging as you need to produce $750,000$ baseballs per year.

Currently, your plant operates $250$ working days per year, with another $10$ days throughout the year planned for training, maintenance and equipment upgrades.

You work your staff only $1$ shift per day in full $8-$hour shifts, with a half$-$hour non$-$paid lunch break. You plan for two $15-$minute breaks, $20$ minutes for morning start$-$up and $10$ minutes for afternoon shut$-$down.

For this first$-$look at the baseball production process, only consider the manufacturing steps, disregarding the purchasing, logistics and order$-$processing tasks.

Your process for analysis: manufacturing of baseballs $($if you'd like to see this in action, check out https:$//$www$.$youtube.com$/$watch$?$v$=$usnZ$\_$rdRo$\_$M$).$

You currently purchase these Raw materials: Pills, Latex adhesive, Wool yarn and thread, Leather rolls and Printing ink. You also have a separate shop $($internal to the company$)$ to make the Leather covers, punched out with holes. Data is provided in the attached spreadsheet, including a recent time$-$in$-$motion study of $5$ employees who perform the critical process of stiches high$-$quality baseballs!

Your tasks:

Start with a customer focus: Compute TAKT Time $($rate at which a finished product needs to be completed in order to meet customer demand$)$

Identify Value and Non$-$value added steps

Download the Value Stream Map $($VSM$)$ template: Week $3\_$Value$-$Stream$-$Map$\_$v$3\mathrm{.}1\_$GoLeanSixSigma.com$\_.$xlsx $-$ Excel Document $(19$ KB$)$

Create a flow using the VSM$,$ including all major processes $($see data sheet$)$

Compute necessary outputs of your VSM

Determine:

If your process can meet customer demand? $($Hint: compare the Process Times per unit to the TAKT time.$)$

What is the bottleneck of the process $($Hint: compare the Process Time per unit for each task.$)$

$($using sampled data only$)$

Do you have "single piece flow"?

Make recommendations around a Future State $($aka $"$To Be$")$ process