🚀 Introducing VSM Studio — Automating Value Stream MappingIn manufacturing, Creating a Value Stream Map manually can take several hours. Engineers often have to collect production data from different sources, organize process information, draw process boxes and VSM symbols, place inventory, connect process flows, calculate lead times, and finally format everything into a clear A3 VSM. Tools like Excel, Visio, and PowerPoint make this possible, but much of the work is still manual and repetitive. The problem becomes even more time-consuming when the production data changes. A change in cycle time, scrap rate, inventory, or process flow can require multiple parts of the VSM to be updated and rearranged again. This not only takes time but can also lead to inconsistencies and calculation errors.This is the problem I wanted to solve with VSM Studio. The idea was to build a tool that could take manufacturing data, understand the available process information and flow, and generate a structured Value Stream Map with minimal manual drawing and formatting. ⚙️ How VSM Studio works: Users can create a VSM manually or import Excel/JSON data. The application processes the available manufacturing information such as Cycle Time (C/T), Machine Time (M/T), Setup Time (S/T), Operator count, Scrap %, RFT, process information, and inventory, and uses it to build the VSM.The application also provides an interactive canvas where users can edit processes, connections, inventory, and other VSM elements. The timeline and flow can be updated along with the map, making it easier to work with changing production data.I also added input validation so the application does not simply guess missing information. If an imported file does not contain enough information, such as the required process flow or inventory data, VSM Studio informs the user instead of generating an incorrect VSM. 💻 Technology behind it: The application is built as a full-stack system using React, Vite and React Flow on the frontend, with Python and FastAPI powering the backend. Excel data is processed using OpenPyXL/Pandas, while Docker is used for containerization. The project also uses GitHub Actions for CI/CD and is deployed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).The goal of VSM Studio is simple: reduce the repetitive manual work involved in creating and maintaining Value Stream Maps and make the process faster, more consistent, and easier to update. 🔗 Live Demo: https://vsm-studio.duckdns.org I’d love to hear feedback from manufacturing engineers, industrial engineers, Lean practitioners, and software developers on how this could be improved further. #ValueStreamMapping #LeanManufacturing #ManufacturingEngineering #IndustrialEngineering #Automation #SoftwareEngineering #ReactJS #FastAPI #Python #Docker #GCP #DevOps #CICD #WebDevelopment