A Review of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) for Viable Business Process Management Among Agro-Allied Companies During the 4IR

The ever-contending competitive forces in the industrial sector and the peculiarities associated with agro-allied manufacturing not limited to short shelf life, seasonality, and heterogeneity of raw materials have perpetually compelled management experts to deal with issues relating to the product, information, time, and material resource wastage. These factors play a significant role in consumer value maximization and have a lasting impact on the overall operational efficiency of any business. To cater to this concurrent industrial abnormality, Business organizations must be deliberate in adopting viable Business Process Management (BPM) strategies. Previous research provides sufficient data to prove that Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a veritable lean manufacturing technique to adopt and settle challenges of operational deficiencies attributable to non-value-added activities in the value stream as practiced in other sectors such as engineering, healthcare, supply chain logistics, etc., with a limited focus on the agro-allied companies. The research, therefore, presents a review that further investigates the potentials of business process management among agro-allied firms and the exigency of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) using value stream mapping. The study findings suggest that the agro-allied industry is still lagging behind its potential. Awareness of the use of VSM to ensure an efficient manufacturing process is extremely low among stakeholders. The study recommends further study on the importance of VSM to ensure agro-allied waste is controlled significantly.