Identify and eliminate the Eight Elements of Waste from your processes.
In Kaizen, I gave you an introduction to the Lean process improvement methodology. Remember that Lean follows a process of continuous improvement using a collection of analytical tools, that when applied properly, can lead to significant improvements in cost, quality, and performance.
The focus of Lean is the virtual elimination of waste in every area of production or operation, with waste defined as anything that hinders the value-added flow of product, service, or information to the customer.
I would like to build upon that knowledge and tell you about the eight elements of waste. In Lean, as you work to streamline any process, you will find many ways to eliminate waste, as anything non-value-added from the perspective of the customer is considered waste. This means if something does not add value to the product or service, and the customer is unwilling to pay for it, then it is considered waste. Therefore, in designing or refining your processes, you should be aware of the eight elements of waste, and conscious that you are not retaining or incorporating waste in your processes. The eight elements of waste are:
- Defects – Anything requiring inspection or rework
- People – Not fully utilizing a person’s skills and knowledge
- Waiting – Idle time for personnel, product, raw materials, or information
- Motion – Any movement that does not add value to the product or service
- Over-processing – Extra effort that adds no value to the product or service
- Overproduction – Making more product, earlier, or faster, than required, or providing services beyond what the customer wants
- Inventory – Any supply in excess of what is required
- Transportation – Transportation of materials, product, or information around the workplace
Remember that the goal of Lean is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop products or support services, and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing top quality products and services in the most efficient and economical manner possible.
In the work environment, there are many examples of what might be considered waste, such as unnecessary calls or call backs, extra processing to complete a transaction, excess routing of reporting or other communications, anything not done correctly the first time, inspection, customer service escalations, extra clicks to navigate systems, people not being leveraged for their full potential and skill set, or employees sitting idle because of excess staffing during low demand.
If you consider your work environment and processes and look for ways to increase your performance and process agility, a great place to start is by eliminating all the extra work and steps you do that don’t add value in all of your daily routines. If these are things that are systems or procedure related, then put forth efforts to correct them or inform people who can. Your ideas for incremental improvements to all work processes can make a difference and can help reduce the waste for everyone. By streamlining everything you and others do, you can free up time and resources to become much nimbler and more responsive to customer needs.
