The manufacturing industry is one of the largest contributors to global economic activity. The companies integrated in the sector must face the increasingly changing and stringent demands of today's market with products that are increasingly competitive in terms of price, quality and level of service. Faced with this situation, the production systems of companies must adapt to respond in a flexible, quick and cheap manner to customer requirements.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a technique developed under the Adjusted Production model to support manufacturing companies in the process of redesigning their production environments. Although its level of theoretical and practical development is high, there is no known scientific analysis that explores in depth its true applicability in different serial production environments. Thus, the main purpose of the present study has been the analysis of the true applicability of the VSM technique.
The research methodology has been based on multiple case studies. In particular, an analysis of the application process of VSM in various serial production manufacturing companies was carried out.
The conclusions of the study indicate that VSM is a useful and applicable technique, both for dealing with different logistical problems in the manufacturing plant and for redesigning production systems in different environments. However, the analysis also leads to a need to adapt and refine the VSM technique in order to optimise its performance, especially in aspects such as: the adoption of concepts not directly related to the Lean Production model, and the integration of additional resources and tools to facilitate practical applications.