When is efficiency, not efficiency?
Jon Wiggins
Engineering automation solutions for end users and OEMs around the world, creating safer, smarter and greener operations.
Efficiency is defined as “working or operating quickly and effectively in an organized way”[1].? This definition is often taken to mean doing more for less.? But is this efficient?
The removal of waste from a process has over the past 30 years become a key driver in many business practices.? Methodologies such as Lean Manufacturing have grown up to provide frameworks and guidance on how to remove wastes.? Lean [2] even goes as far as defining 8 wastes:
Tipping Point
However, there is one critical element which must be re-inserted.? It is only a waste if it is not paid for by the value added to the product.
If altering the activity alters the quality of the product (be this physical quality, customer service, of protection levels) it is not a waste.? So if removal of an activity degrades the product is this gaining efficiency, or in fact doing less for less?
There is the argument that if the customer will still pay the same this is in fact more efficient.? This I would argue is a minimum viable product argument.? What is the minimum product I can produce that the customer will pay the same price for.? This process in time is often referred to as “shrinkflation”, where the price stays the same, but the product offered reduces.
However effective it is, efficient it is not.? Put simply doing less for less is not reducing waste , it is just doing less.? But how does this apply in our everyday world?
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Start Excellent
When we apply a process it is usual to? offer the highest degree of service to begin with.? This may be the highest degree of safety checks or the highest degree of monitoring.? Then we make the process more efficient by removing what is not needed slowly as we learn about the application, behaviours and better understand the risks.? We become more confident.
This though can lead to the trap of reducing quality in the name of efficiency and critically reducing the quality to below a level where the product is safe.? This is done in small increments over time and it is human nature to adjust to these small changes and? accept that a minor change may only have a minor impact without looking at the overall change.
Start at the Bottom
The answer.? Define the minimum and start there.? What is the minimum viable process to achieve my goals?? If the minimum cannot be defined then it is simply not acceptable to remove measures until the minimum can be defined.
Build up from the minimum as needed.? If there is uncertainty, if there is additional risk add this on to the minimum in a justified way.? This way we end up with a truly efficient system and a defined level of quality from the outset rather than a? slow erosion over time.