Types of waste

Main seven types of waste

Transportation :

any movement of materials, supplies or resources that does not add value to the internal or external customer needs

How you find this waste

• having multiple storage locations
• Complex inventory management : you may find difficulties in locate materials
• extra carts, fork lifts
• Extra facility space
• Improper layout facility

In IT section there is no physical raw material transportation so there is no waste but people movement from one place to another place is also considered as a waste

Inventory

Any supply in excess to process requirements necessary requirements necessary to produce goods or services just in time

How to find this type of waste

• Material between processes: this can create delay in processing and might disturbs interferes the process flow
• Additional material handling resources: this requires handling, counting, tracking, reporting and management which results in additional costs
• Additional investment/ cost : for additional inventory there will be access cost involves which impact overall cash flow in the business
• Storage space : with access inventory you required extra storage space which potentially have freedom to use for other purpose
• Perishable, damage and obsolescence: after some time inventory is not useful if they get expired or get damage
• Apply LIFO (last in first out) instead of FIFO (first in first out)

Motion

Any movement of people , resources or machines which does not contribute or add value to the product or service is motion waste

How to identify this waste:

• Human motion : some operations requires human interaction to get things done the operating machine needs movement . Unnecessarily human movements such as twisting , handling etc
• This does not only requires only two hand but also risky and requires safety issues
• Lack of Visual controls : in some systems or processes may have not adequate visual controls due to this someone has to regularly check the machines and causes unnecessary motions
• Looking for tools : in the machine floor tools are required to carry out the machine operations, in case of tools are organised and kept in order operator should have not to waste time in finding the tools
• Material too far apart : if material is far apart it requires unnecessary walk time and which is motion waste
• Machine motion : Unnecessary machine movement in the process might cause additional maintenance and machine wear leading to quality problems.

Waiting

Long period of inactivity for people , machine or material waiting for each other

How is this waste identified?

• improper scheduling : causing due to people , material and tools are not in the right place at the right time
• People waiting for machine or resources
• Poor material planning and interdependent variables are not fully synchronized cause the waiting
• Late deliveries and delays
• Attempting to reduce the set ups in the process leads to the large production batches and mass production and large batch sizes may causes some work may be overburdened and others are simultaneously stop and waiting to the work which leads unbalance operations and causes waste related to waiting

Overproduction

Producing faster or excess quantity than the internal or external customer needs

Characteristics

• Just in case reward system : people produces more quantities as a buffer having “ just in case” mindset therefor the production is much higher than needed this causes unnecessary waste and leads to Large lot size batch processing
• Improper demand planning we usually create unbalanced material flow and cause overproduction
• Producing early and Inventory stockpiles : due to this we required excess storage racks and inventory management

Overproduction leads to too many consumption resources such as people , tools , machines , inventory ,storage space , energy and cash tide up in this assets

Over processing

Effort which adds no value to a product or service. Enhancements which are not valued by customers

It may be caused by using wrong tools , improper instructions or inadequate training

Due to inappropriate design or due to lack of communication between design department and the manufacturing department

It may also be caused by misunderstandings the customer requirements

Characteristics:

• lack of customer specifications
• Endless refinement
• Redundant approvals
• Extra copies or excessive information

Defects

Rework needed to rectify the defect in product or service to fulfill customer requirements

Characteristics:

• Quality problems
• Extra resources to inspect / test / rework
• Insufficient training
• Inconsistent work methods , tools
• Excessive variation

Some of the defects causes the lower profits and causes loss in the business

Additional type of waste

Underutilization Of skills

Any skill that is not utilized you it’s full potential leading to customer value

Characteristics

• skill based compensation : people are hired on the base of their skill sets and their compensation is depend on what they can deliver
• Over qualification : Of somebody is over qualifying or have a excess skills then needed is a waste because he or she is not able to use their skills to the fullest
• Under performance : underperforming and not utilizing the skills is the waste for the organization
• If the skills are under-utilized the morale of the employees also get affected this means the employee is capable of doing more is not allowed to doing more this demotivates and case the waste