application of value stream mapping for waste reduction in make-to-order environment (an action research in a commercial printing company)

this article discusses the use of value stream mapping(vsm) in a make-to-order production environment. according to this tool, apractical study carried out about the way of implementation of leanmanufacturing in a commercial printing company in an action research basis. theaim of using vsm as a drawing tool of current value stream is to investigatethe ways of process improvement and reducing waste. in this study, aftermapping the current state value stream for making waste measurement, a detailedroot-cause analysis was carried out and various improvement proposals has beenidentified based on the principles of lean manufacturing especially thecontinuous flow and low level of work in process and final goods inventory.because of the importance of waste measurement in different phases of leanimplementation in commercial printing companies as low volume high mixproduction environments, a dedicated deficiency measure was developed.