Table 6.

VSM key definitions

Term	Definition
Value-added activity	An activity in workflow process that somehow changes the product or service in some manner and customer is willing to pay for it.
Nonvalue-added activity	An activity that does not increase the value of what is delivered to the customer.
Process-cycle efficiency	This parameter, which measures what percentage of a process is considered to constitute value-added activity, is calculated by dividing the total value-added time in a process by the total process time. Perfect efficiency (100% process cycle efficiency) is the goal, although that is virtually impossible to achieve.