Mapping the municipal utilities billing ART shows the longest wait sitting with an external print-and-mail vendor, but the steering committee declares vendors out of scope. What should the RTE include in the system view?

Include external vendor waits in the municipal utilities billing ART system view because they still delay flow to the ratepayer. The development value stream includes every delay between request and value in the customer's hands. Declaring print-and-mail out of scope as "procurement only" hides the longest wait. Limiting the view to the ART Kanban or city-employee steps misses the constraint. A redacted map that lists vendors but hides wait duration avoids learning under a blame-avoidance banner. Exam caveat: commercial sensitivity may limit public detail, but ART leaders still need timed vendor waits for improvement and contract design. Operational check: put print-and-mail queue time on the map, engage procurement in a joint experiment or SLA change, and measure bill-delivery lead time so ratepayers feel the system improvement. In municipal and civic service contexts, record the rationale in the ART working agreements or improvement backlog so future PIs preserve the control, and re-validate after the next Inspect and Adapt against resident-facing outcomes rather than activity theater. Confirm owners, success measures, and a re-check date so the practice remains inspectable. In municipal and civic service contexts, record the rationale in the ART working agreements or improvement backlog so future PIs preserve the control, and re-validate after the next Inspect and Adapt against resident-facing outcomes rather than activity theater. Confirm owners, success measures, and a re-check date so the practice remains inspectable.