8 Wastes To EliminateIn Order to Lean Out

Your ProcessesLin Fisher, CSM

Defects

Production Examples:• Unclear customer specifications• Incapable processes• Lack of process control• Unskilled personnel• Departmental rather than total

company quality improvement initiatives

• Incapable suppliers

Service Examples:• Rejections in sourcing applications• Incorrect data entry

Strategies to reduce:• Design review• Reduce defective materials• Train employees• Maintenance of machines and

equipment

Waiting

Production Examples:• Unsynchronized processes; line

imbalance• Inflexible workforce• Over staffing• Unscheduled machine downtime• Long setup times• Material shortage or delay• Manpower shortage or delay

Service Examples:• Customers waiting to be served

in a contact centre• System downtime

Inventory

Production Examples:• Overproduction• big batch sizes• Long lead times• Local optimization (turf mentality)• Large minimum order quantities• High rework rate (ties into defects)• Just In Time (JIT) incapable suppliers• Lack of material requisition and issuance

standards

Service Examples:• Files and documents waiting to be

processed• Excess promotional materials sent to

market• More infrastructure than required

Strategies to reduce:• Dispose of obsolete material to

save space and avoid confusion• Do not produce items ahead of

customers delivery requirements• Do not manufacture products in

excess of customer's requirements

Motion

Production Examples:• Poor workstation layout - excessive bending,

walking and reaching• Poor method design - transferring parts from

one hand to another• Reorientation of materials• Poor layout and housekeeping• Disorganized workplace and storage locations• Unclear, non-standardized work instructions• Unclear process and materials flow

Service Examples:• Looking for data and information• Movement of people to and from office

equipment

Strategies to reduce:• Motion economy principal• Effective supervision

Over ProcessingProduction Examples:• Unclear customer specifications• Frequent engineering changes• Excessive quality (refinements,

"polishing")• Inadequate value analysis/value

engineering• Unclear work instructions

Service Examples:• Too much paperwork in process• Same data required in multiple places

in a process• Follow up coordination costs• Too many approvals• Reporting overburden

Strategies to reduce:• Improve work allocation• Identify more effective methods• Limit overproduction

Over Production

Production Examples:• Volume incentives (sales, pay, purchasing)• High capacity equipment• Poor scheduling/shifting• Poor production planning• Cost accounting practices that encourage

build up of inventory

Service Examples:• Information sent automatically even when

not required• Printing documents before they are

required• Processing items before they are required

by the next person in the process

Strategies to reduce:• Strong production planning and

control• Production according to

customer schedule• Firm delivery requirements

Underutilized Talent

Production Examples:• Inappropriate policies• Incomplete measures• No time made available in operators work

schedule• Problem solving only done with "experts"

ignoring employees• Top down improvement ideas

Service Examples:• Limited authority and responsibility• Person put on a wrong job

Strategies to reduce:• Give staff ownership of work