Phase 1 – customer demand

This phase of the future mapping exercise is expressly set up to ensure the VSM team starts its Lean improvement objectives with the customer's needs firmly in mind. But we're not talking about understanding customer requirements in terms of features and functions, as that type of analysis lies with the product management function. In other words, work item identification, selection, and prioritization are part of the Agile product management and product backlog refinement processes in an IT context.

In this phase, you need to answer the following questions:

• What are your customers' demands for this value stream?
• How many customers do you have?
• What are the types of customers or market segments, or niches, that are supported?
• What is the predictability of orders, including seasonal adjustments, across all customers or types of customers by product line?
• Are you overproducing, underproducing, or meeting demand...