LeanPC Graph

Have you ever seen a spaghetti map?  It’s a layout of a work area where the process path is mapped out graphically.  It allows users to see process flows and their corresponding frequency.  These charts have been used in Lean Manufacturing for many years – and have been extremely effective to ’see’ non-value activities.

Our TCL graph is a spaghetti map for transactional applications.  However, it’s quite a bit more sophisticated than the those used in manufacturing.  Our map is divided into two sections – PC activity is recorded on the left, and ‘People’ activity is recorded on the right.

• The right hand side (people) shows you what you’d expect – phone calls, emails, meetings, and instant messaging.
• The left hand side (PC) shows you what applications (and their corresponding menus) that you use and in what sequence.  This may lead you to understand that … The TCL graph charts all types of information!

PC movements (scrolling, mousing, etc.), keyboard, phone calls, email, IM, meetings, paperwork, faxes — we capture it all.  Once these information flows are captured we can begin manipulating this information to see frequency-related data and quickly move into to identifying where the biggest areas of waste reside.