LeanFlow

Flow

The smooth, uninterrupted movement of material and information through a value stream with minimal stops or queues.

Flow is one of the five lean principles: once value is defined and the value stream mapped, work should move smoothly from step to step without stopping, batching, or back-tracking. Ideal flow is single-piece, continuous, and pulled by demand.

Improving flow — by removing the obstacles of waiting, inventory, and rework — is what actually compresses lead time and surfaces problems for solving.

Go Deeper
Lean Manufacturing guide→Value Stream Mapping guide→
Related Terms
Continuous Flow
Producing and moving one unit at a time through a sequence of steps with no stops or batches between them.
One-Piece Flow
Moving a single unit through each step at a time, with no batching or queues between operations.
Value Stream
All the activities — value-adding and not — required to bring a product from raw material to the customer.
Lead Time
The total elapsed time from order (or raw material) to delivery (or finished product), including all waiting.
Pull System
Production triggered by actual downstream consumption rather than forecasts — work is pulled by demand.

Put Flow into practice

SymplProcess turns these concepts into working models, calculators, and templates your whole team can use — no spreadsheets required.

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