8 Deadly Sins of Waste: Part 3
Colin Reed
Lean Consulting; Culture Change; Training; Implementation; Management Coaching; Continuous Improvement
The key to a Lean manufacturing environment is to eliminate waste and introduce greater efficiency. Last week we discussed Transportation and Waiting as identifiable waste. As we continue our 8 Deadly Sins of Waste series, you will discover ways to increase your company’s value added activities.
MOTION WASTE: Unplanned downtime can be avoidable (with a few exceptions). Extra employee and equipment movement is unnecessary, therefore it should be avoided. Unplanned downtime, such as an employee walking to and from the printer, or having poor process controls adds no value to a product or service.
EXCESS PROCESSING: Unclear as to what the customer expects and is willing to pay for? You are potentially about to expend time on an activity that, from the customer’s perspective, adds no real value to the product or service. The result of this waste is predictable: wasted time, money, effort, and resources. Closely examine your process and fix it.
If you have an unorganized workplace or misunderstand customer needs, the chances of your company experiencing waste is high. In order to prevent the waste of motion and excess processing, review your process techniques to identify activities to remove.
Starting to see a theme here? If an activity does not add value, stop doing it!