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December 16, 2004 Bend the Curve Fair Highlights Progress of Value Stream Mapping Teams This morning was the first "BTC Fair" for the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) teams to get together since being formed at China Lake on November 2nd and 3rd. The half-day Fair provided an opportunity for team members to show others the work they have done, to find out where other teams are in the process, and to ask questions about VSM and BTC. Many teams are continuing to finish up the Future State maps, while others are working to calculate the metrics to compare the Current State and the Future State. One team, Empowerment and Decision-Making, which was developed during the three one-day conferences in October, started out trying to use the VSM tool, but found that it did not fit the issue they were trying to address. After switching to another tool, team members found the issue easier to tackle. The tool they are using is Plan-Do-Check-Act, which is taken from the Total Quality Management (TQM) process and is a cycle of activities designed to drive continuous improvement. I mention this just to point out that BTC is not solely about VSM. BTC is about changing how we think about the work we do. It is not only about the projects we have rolled out en masse, but it is also about sitting at our desks questioning why it is we're doing a particular job a certain way; or, even why we are doing that particular job in the first place - does it add value for our customer, or someone down the line? We are in the process of putting together BTC signs for each office; they'll be distributed over the next couple of weeks. Please use these signs as reminders - and give some thought to how and what we do on a daily basis.
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