LEAN Continuous Improvement What is Waste? 7 Wastes Description Countermeasure Limiting authority and responsibility of staff Provide appropriate levels of for task completion. authority for transactions; ensure adequate business tools are Underutilization Examples: available. of people Limited decision making capability Provide staff with appropriate Restricted training on technical training to fully utilize. resources More processing than is needed to produce Compare customer requirements what the customer requires. Extra mental or to specifications. physical non-value added steps. This is often Look for potential simplifications to one of the more difficult wastes to detect the process. and eliminate. Over processing Examples: Poor filing system Meetings without agenda for action Producing repetitive documents from scratch, “reinventing the wheel” Producing quantities that go beyond Bring in material as they are supporting the immediate need, or any type needed “Just in Time.” of batch processing. Reduce/eliminate buffers between steps. Inventory Examples: Excessive supplies Full “in-boxes” (electronic or paper) Computer files never used Production that is scrap or requires re-work. Design processes so they are less Any type of correction on errors. likely to produce defects/errors. Design processes to detect/error Examples: abnormalities so that can be Data entry errors immediately corrected. Defects / Errors Inaccurate reports/data Look for single most frequent Lack of standardized work defect and determine why it Incomplete communications occurs. Create work instructions that provide a consistent method.
LEAN Continuous Improvement What is Waste? 7 Wastes Description Countermeasure Underutilization of people Limiting authority and responsibility of staff for task completion. Examples: Limited decision making capability Restricted training on technical resources Provide appropriate levels of authority for transactions; ensure adequate business tools are available. Provide staff with appropriate training to fully utilize. Over processing More processing than is needed to produce what the customer requires. Extra mental or physical non-value added steps. This is often one of the more difficult wastes to detect and eliminate. Examples: Poor filing system Meetings without agenda for action Producing repetitive documents from scratch, “reinventing the wheel” Compare customer requirements to specifications. Look for potential simplifications to the process. Inventory Producing quantities that go beyond supporting the immediate need, or any type of batch processing. Examples: Excessive supplies Full “in-boxes” (electronic or paper) Computer files never used Bring in material as they are needed “Just in Time.” Reduce/eliminate buffers between steps. Defects / Errors Production that is scrap or requires re-work. Any type of correction on errors. Examples: Data entry errors Inaccurate reports/data Lack of standardized work Incomplete communications Design processes so they are less likely to produce defects/errors. Design processes to detect/error abnormalities so that can be immediately corrected. Look for single most frequent defect and determine why it occurs. Create work instructions that provide a consistent method.
What%20is%20waste_FINAL.docx