Teaching Your Employees to Recognize Waste Is the Smart Thing to Do

The Toyota Production System defines the 7 deadly wastes as non-related but equally dangerous. Sadly, many companies choose to dabble with a few 'Lean Manufacturing' principles without bothering to understand the significance of the "Seven Wastes" and how their elimination will benefit the company's

Here are some common reasons. In most cases, management is not convinced or aware their company has a problem. Often employees are afraid to voice their concerns to upper management. Management believes they are capable of managing waste without implementing more systems. Another reason is because making changes in any form is difficult for people to accept. The fear of the unknown makes management and co-workers uneasy and unsure of the future.

Whatever the reason, if a company fails to reduce or eliminate waste, the result will be lower confidence of the consumers, shareholders and employees. This lowered confidence jeopardizes the long-term existence of the company. To avoid this scenario, mangers must spend adequate time teaching their employees to recognize and eliminate all forms of waste. This education is best received using Nemawashi (the Japanese term meaning 'prepare the soil before planting the tree') I will briefly describe the "Seven Wastes" and suggest ideas to eliminate them. As I describe the wastes, an easy method to commit them to memory is by using the word "Wormpic". The first letter of each of the "Seven Wastes" is represented by this effective acronym.

Waiting

Waiting is a non-value added activity. One example is an employee waiting for his machine to complete a cycle. Another example is an employee waiting in the time clock line to punch in or out. Employees' waiting for others to attend a meeting is waste. Any time wasted is lost time and adds costs to the company. Once people are taught about the costs involved with waiting, they are motivated to suggest ideas that assists in the elimination of waiting. The production process can be kaizened (the Japanese term for continuous improvement) by the experts (the employees) using simple, low-cost improvements rather than buying expensive tooling or machine upgrades. Many improvements are simple changes made to the work sequence that are sensible and reduce unnecessary motion. The waste of waiting should be the first waste attacked as it can be reduced using low-cost methods.

Overproduction

Overproduction is the most dangerous waste of all because it involves extra costs above and beyond the planned production build. Extra costs are involved to purchase additional materials and pay for all production, conveyance and warehousing costs until the customer is ready to purchase the final product. The reasons why we overproduce are varied and complex. Usually, production overproduces to keep people busy. It doesn't look good when people are idle. Production will always overproduce to compensate for machine or processing problems (no trust in the process). The desire to over produce is heightened when excess machine capacity is available. These problemsare magnified when engineering and technical support focuses on 'firefighting' rather than focusing on preventative actions. Overproducing is a difficult waste to eliminate and requires tremendous discipline at all levels.

Production must follow the simple rule, "Built only what is needed, when it is needed, in the amount needed". Using a kanban (Japanese term meaning signal to build or withdraw to the exact amount) system will help control the desire to build more than needed. At the same time, an "all hands on deck" approach by engineering and technical support working together will identify and fix the reasons (or problems) that force overproduction in the first place. By using and following a kanban system, processing problems are immediately visual to management and more apt to be fixed rather than ignored by overbuilding.

Again, this takes discipline. One final caution on overproduction, if a company doesn't succeed in eliminating the desire to overproduce, their stability and longevity will be in jeopardy over the long haul.

Rework

Rework can insidiously encroach on the daily routine of a production floor unless someone is watching for it. It is a silent waste that seems acceptable in many companies for two reasons. It is either too difficult to remedy or no one recognizes it for what it is.

Many years ago, a company specializing in home fitness products imported much of their product line from Taiwan. The delivery stream consisted of treadmills shipped inside containers while spending considerable time on docks and ships in a humid environment. This condition played havoc on the metal surfaces. As a result, when containers reached their final destination and were opened, a large percentage of tread-mills had rust damage. Several employees were employed to rework all rusted areas with wire brushes to remove the rust and repaint the surfaces. Then the treadmills were completed and shipped to the customer. A nearby steel plant received numerous semi-truck loads of treadmills because rust damage was too progressive to justify repair.

This practice went on for nearly two years before preventative measures were applied to ensure all metal surfaces would survive the long periods of time inside containers in high humidity conditions. The elimination of rework must be acted upon immediately.

The time to eliminate the waste of rework is now. Beside the cost of rework, shipments will be delayed to customers resulting in reduced customer satisfaction. Remember the simple rule, "Its always cheaper to build it right the first time". Ignoring that simple fact will steer the company towards extinction in today's business world.

Motion

Motion is also an insidious waste that creeps into the workplace and is ignored unless someone is attuned to the effects of motion on the workforce. To truly understand wasted motion, we must break motion down into three categories. The first category is Waste.

This refers to any unnecessary motion in the process. An example would be an operator walking from his machine to retrieve something necessary to perform his work assignment. Twisting, bending, stooping, kneeling and lifting are wasted motions that cause damage to the human body over time. These motions eventually result in lost time accidents and insurance claims.

The second category is Incidental Work. This is non-value added work, but necessary under present working conditions. Incidental work motion is roughly fifty to sixty five percent of all motion performed to complete the task. This is the majority of what operators do. An example would be a contractor measuring and cutting 2X6s prior to nailing them together to form a wall. Measuring and cutting 2X6s does not add value to the end product but is necessary before assembly takes place. The goal would be to reduce the amount of incidental work as much as possible by designing homes with ceiling heights matching standard 2X6 lengths. We must be mindful of incidental work in our processes and look for ways to reduce it.

The third category is Net Work Achieved. This includes all value-adding operations that change the form of the product. An example of net work achieved is the contractor nailing the 2X6s together to form the wall. The net work achieved motion is roughly ten to fifteen percent of all work performed. To remain competitive a company must remain focused on reducing or eliminating both waste of motion and incidental work motion. By doing so, net work achieved will rise and so will profits.

Over-Processing

Over-processing is basically redundant checks or processes intended to backup or support certain operations. These usually serve as safety or quality checks. In the early stages of the process these checks were probably justified but we should challenge their usefulness and

validity as the process is improved.

Over-processing creates additional work-in-process (WIP), rework and extra motion in handling. To effectively reduce over-processing, a cross-functional team consisting of process engineers, technical support personnel and quality engineers must take responsibility for the ongoing assessment of redundant or backup processes and their eventual elimination. Another important member of the over-processing reduction team should be the customer. Whenever an idea to reduce or eliminate a redundant check or process is considered, customer involvement is paramount. Customers are more than willing to buy into the elimination of a redundant process or check when the data shows no reduction in quality but a real reduction in price. It is a win-win situation for both parties.

Inventory

Once a part is built, costs have increased. If that same part is not sold but added to an inventory, costs rise due to the added conveyance and warehousing. We seldom think of the additional pallets and boxes required to manage additional inventory.

Factor into the same equation additional conveyance, forklifts/pallet jacks, and headcount needed to move and store additional inventory. If inventory continues to grow, we are faced with the rental or construction of additional warehouse space. A warehouse of un-sold inventory is an albatross around a company's neck. The main key here is to build only what is needed by the customer. Our goal is to recoup all costs incurred during the manufacturing of product in the shortest amount of time.

Conveyance

Conveyance is the actual movement of materials and is a non-value added activity. Our goal is to eliminate or reduce conveyance as much as possible. Employees are affected by conveyance if the production process was not originally setup with conveyance (motion) elimination in mind. If one needs to convey, the best way is to build only what is needed, when it is needed, in the amount needed. By following this rule, conveyance is held to a minimum.

A few years ago, I visited a stamping process that supplied igniter tubes to my production area. As I was shown the stamping process from start to finish, I recognized a labyrinth-type process flow where igniter tubes required conveyance from one end of the production facility to the other. Apparent the facility was originally laid out without igniter tubes a consideration. Additional machines and processes were located in any available space to build igniter tubes. Although this was probably the best approach at the time, the process flow for igniter tubes required a full-time operator and forklift moving parts. I estimated the distance between all operations at 200 yards.

Think of the savings if all operations were moved together in a U-shaped cell. Perhaps short lengths of conveyor could move parts from machine to machine. The fork-lift and operator would be eliminated! This idea is a huge step closer to one piece flow! A process footprint of this nature would require some money up front to pay for the re-wiring, machine move and conveyor purchase, but the elimination of one forklift with associated upkeep and one operator would recoup all move-related costs in a relatively short time.

We have briefly described "Wormpic" and methods to eliminate the financial impact upon companies. It is now up to you to teach these simple yet powerful principles of waste elimination. I believe there isn't a better time to act upon it than today. Another day of un-checked waste is money lost to non-value added costs. As everyone within your organization is educated to reduce waste and change non-value added jobs into work, the better for each of us. The strength of our American economy depends upon healthy companies making profits so they can exist continuously. Companies are thereby able to contribute to a better society stabilizing customer satisfaction, improving shareholder confidence and providing stable employment for all employees. This is achieved through the recognition and elimination of the "Seven Wastes".