A systematic literature review on the stochastic analysis of value streams

Abstract

Value stream analysis is a very useful approach in the identification of non-value adding wastes and developing a systemic plan for achieving process improvement. However, traditional value stream mapping fails in considering the inherent variability of processes, hence reinforcing improvements that might not lead to significant results. In this sense, the uncertainties associated with value streams become an issue that can be curbed with the integration of stochastic methods. By conducting a systematic literature review, this research evaluates the level of integration of stochastic methods into value stream analysis and identifies those stochastic methods that are widely adopted to address uncertainties in the value stream analysis. Results from the review indicate that the application of the existing stochastic methods into value stream analysis is still at its infancy and is not systematically integrated. In addition, the few studies that consider stochasticity of value streams weakly examines the effect that uncertainty sources entail on each other.

Keywords:

• Value stream analysis
• stochastic methods
• uncertainty sources
• literature review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.

Notes on contributors

Gabriel Preuss Luz

Gabriel Preuss Luz is a PhD candidate at the Production Engineering Post-Graduate Program at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis – Brazil. His background involves lean implementation in healthcare and manufacturing organizations.

Guilherme Luz Tortorella

Guilherme Luz Tortorella is Associate Professor of the Department of Systems and Production Engineering of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil. He is the Head of Research of the Productivity and Continuous Improvement Lab and the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Lean Systems. He is one of the founders of the Brazilian Conference on Lean Systems and has more than 18 years with practical and academic experience with manufacturing and operations management.

Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy

Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy is a Lecturer in the Department of Operations Management at the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS), UK. Prior to joining ULMS, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He completed his doctoral studies from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, India. He researches in the area of healthcare operational excellence, transformative service research, satellite imagery analytics, digitization, and business model innovation.

Paolo Gaiardelli

Paolo Gaiardelli is Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering of the University of Bergamo. His main teaching and research subjects mainly focus on Production and Service Management, with a specific interest in Lean Management. Recently his research interests have extended to the exploration of the role of lean management with reference to the main trends in the Operations, including sustainable and behavioural operations, digitalization and servitization of manufacturing. In particular, he is involved in studying how the adoption of lean paradigms increases the efficiency and effectiveness of Product Service Systems design, development and management.

Rapinder Sawhney

Rapinder Sawhney is Full Professor and Heath Fellow in Business and Engineering at the Industrial and Systems Engineering at University of Tennessee, USA. He is also the Director of the Center for Advanced Systems Research and Education (CASRE) and is the author of several articles on Lean Management and Operational Excellence.