Manage out the 7 wastes holding your business back?

Eliminating waste is one of the most important prerequisites for a successful business.

The idea of eliminating waste originates from the Toyota Production System.  They started this with Lean Manufacturing, a key element of which is waste reduction.  ‘Lean’ waste reduction is an effective way to work smarter and build a better, more profitable business.

Waste less and you do less, use less, wait less, move things around less and stockpile less.

When you reduce the waste in your business, making it leaner, you will drive up your profits.

Fail to eliminate waste and you fail to maximise the profits from your business.

You want a leaner and more profitable business, don’t you?

How do you do this?  Manage the 7 wastes out of your business and you’ll become lean.

So, what are the 7 wastes and in which of these does your business burn the most money?

1. Unnecessary Waiting Waste: People stop working because they are waiting for something
2. Over-Production Waste: Doing more or making more than is ordered or needed
3. Transportation Waste: Moving around or moving products or equipment around unnecessarily
4. Processing Waste: Repeated actions that add no value to a product or service or to the end customer
5. Inventory Waste: Unnecessary levels of stock or work in progress that take up storage space
6. Motion Waste: Unnecessary movement of workers or steps in workflow that add no value
7. Defect Waste: Poor customer service, rejected parts, quality issues or poor recruitment, leading to repeated processes or items needing to be replaced

In a Lean environment, Waste is any activity that absorbs resources but which brings no value to the business or customer.