Performing value stream mapping involves defining, on a large surface (Figure 7-5), the various process blocks of the product’s delivery. How you slice and dice the value stream into process blocks (also known as value stream loops) is a bit of an art. We want enough detail to be useful, but not so much that it becomes unnecessarily complex and we get lost arguing about minutiae. Martin and Osterling suggest aiming for between 5 and 15 process blocks.4 For each process block within the value stream, we record the activity and the name of the team or function that performs it.
