A lean proposal: development of value stream mapping for L'Oreal's artwork process.

Abstract

Purpose: This research develops value stream mapping (VSM) for L’Oreal’s artwork process, to eliminate waste, reduce lead-time and identify stages that can be automated, which makes the process less prone to human error and more responsive to fulfilling business-to-business customer requirements. Additionally, amendments frequently occur slowing down the artwork process. In this context VSM is applied to L’Oreal’s artwork process to reduce lead-time, human error and missed deadlines. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This study uses data from L’Oreal’s artwork tracker from 2018-2019, which is manually tracked by the launch team. The service level agreement and task time data has been collected from 12 employees representing the launch, factory and marketing teams working on the artwork process. Qualitative feedback was also obtained from 9 employees to validate the VSM for L’Oreal’s artwork process. Findings: VSM identified stages that can be streamlined and automated in L’Oreal’s artwork process, which makes the process more efficient and responsive to changing scope of the artworks. 50 percent of the stages have been eliminated from the manual artwork process, resulting in a reduced lead-time of 10.5 days and a reduction of 28 percent time spent on the process. This allows the artwork process to be more agile to the requirements of business-to-business customers. Moreover, the proposed VSM shows a 73% increase in value added time for a renovation and a 75% increase in value added time for new product developments (NPD). Originality/ Value: VSM has been specifically designed, developed and analyzed for L’Oreal’s artwork process, in order to make the process more efficient and responsive to business-to-business customers requirements.