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.