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Value Stream Map — Invoice Approval

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About This MicroSim

A Lean Value Stream Map for an invoice-approval process. Process boxes show cycle times; coral triangles show queue depths between steps. The timeline below splits the lead time into value-added (green) and non-value-added (red) bands. Toggle to the To-Be state to see Lean improvements (auto-OCR intake, eliminating duplicate approvals) lift the value-added ratio dramatically.

Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives

By the end of this activity, students will be able to:

  1. Read a value stream map
  2. Compute a value-added ratio
  3. Identify the largest sources of waste
  4. Propose Lean interventions