A medium-sized manufacturing team were convinced they knew how a custom-built machine line moved from customer concept, to detailed equipment design, to component manufacture and assembly/test, to pack/ship, to install and prove-out. However, once we got the team into a room together to walk through the value stream map, it became clear that what everyone thought the process should be, was indeed very different than the actual current state. Internal company subject matter experts who had been working within this process for many years were reluctantly surprised, and a little embarrassed, that the actual current-state process was very different than they described. This is not unusual, in fact it is the rule, rather than the exception, when a detailed value stream mapping event is well-run. The team takes turns providing their view of a long-standing key business process and I moderate the often spirited debates that result. With patience and a shared goal of revealing the truth and valuable opportunities for improvement, the team is deeply engaged and excited to find practical and effective ways to build a more repeatable and valuable future-state process. The difference between a well-documented actual current-state and the practical ideal future-state is the identification of wastes of the “Hidden Factory” such as Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Unused Talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, and Extra-Processing. When you engage Leanpathdirect to moderate your Value Stream Mapping event, you will realize the power of engaging your team in identifying and improving your “hidden factory”.