Customer or supplier (factory icon)
A customer or a supplier outside the plant. On a value stream map the factory icon, a building with a saw-tooth roof, stands for the supplier at the top left and the customer at the top right.
How to read it
The same icon does both jobs, and its place on the map says which. A University of Wisconsin-Stout study of value stream mapping puts the supplier in the upper left, where the material flow usually starts, and the customer in the upper right, where it usually ends. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Lean and Environment Toolkit labels the icon external sources, such as suppliers and customers. A data box under it gives details such as how often shipments go and the quantity demanded per period.
Also searched as: customer or supplier (factory icon) symbol, factory icon vsm, outside source vsm, supplier icon, value stream map customer or supplier (factory icon).
Look-alikes
A Process box is a plain rectangle and stands for a step inside the plant. A truck stands for the deliveries between the factory icons and the plant.
Read next
- Next in Value stream mapping symbolsProcess boxOne step in the flow of material, such as stamping, welding or assembly. The process box is a rectangle with the name of the process in a band across the top.
- The same shape in US state symbolsIndiana state symbolsIndiana’s state bird is the cardinal, its state flower the peony, its state tree the tulip tree and its motto “The Crossroads of America”.
More value stream mapping symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Value Stream Mapping at XYZ Company, Madhubala Rauniyar, MS research paper, May 2007, Appendix A: Value Stream Process symbols, University of Wisconsin-Stout (MINDS@UW), Appendix A, Customer/Supplier; Data Box
- Lean and Environment Toolkit, Version 1.0, Chapter 3 and Appendix A (Common Icons Used in Value Stream Maps), US Environmental Protection Agency, Appendix A, Common Icons Used in Value Stream Maps
- Value-Stream Mapping, Lexicon term, Lean Enterprise Institute, Definition
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
Added .