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1. Introduction
In recent times, many organizations have attempted to implement or have already implemented lean manufacturing (LM). Some companies have implemented a few tools/techniques/practices/procedures (i.e. "elements" in short) of LM, while others have implemented a whole spectrum of LM elements ([6] Gurumurthy and Kodali, 2009). The concept LM was originated in Japan after the Second World War when it was realized that they could not afford to invest much now. The objective of LM is to reduce waste in every part (such as human effort, inventory, time to market and manufacturing space) to become more responsive to customer demand while producing quality products in the most efficient and economical manner ([30] Womack et al. , 1990).
LM encompasses many different strategies and activities that are familiar to almost all industrial engineers ([2] Braglia et al. , 2006; [3] Chitturi et al. , 2007; [17] Mahapatra and Mohanty, 2007). In many such cases, firms have reported some benefits by applying lean principles; however, it is apparent that there is a need to understand the entire system in order to gain maximum benefits ([28] Singh et al. , 2010). Value stream mapping (VSM) acts as one of enterprise improvement tool in LM to assist in visualizing the entire production process, representing both material and information flow. The goal is to identify all types of waste in the value stream and to take necessary steps to eliminate them ([20] Rother and Shook, 1999; [21] Sahoo et al. , 2008; [23] Seth et al. , 2008). VSM aids in the development of a "current state map" which shows a visual representation of how the company is currently operating; it records process information and information flow which can be used to identify key wastes, problems and opportunities. Once the current state map has been analyzed the future state map can then be produced to show how the company could operate more effectively ([18] Pavnaskar et al. , 2003). According to the lean system, [14] Lasa et al. (2008) showed that VSM is a valuable tool for redesigning of the productive systems and found that there are some key points for the establishing teams that have to take into account for designing of suitable information systems.
One of the...