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DOWNTIME

10:1 IMPACT SERIES


Big Idea

World class companies eliminate waste so they
can focus on value-added activities in the
workplace.  Chapter 1

Value and Waste


Plan
Value and Waste

Watch The Movie Understanding value and waste is at the heart of your company’s world
class transformation. This chapter explores the key concepts of value-
added and non-value-added activities.

Value-added activities change, transform and add features to


information, materials or the product.  Customers, internal or external,
are willing to pay for these types of activities.  

Non-value added activities or actions add no value to the product.


Customers do not want to pay more for non-value added activities,
although non-value-added activities often do affect the final cost.
THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. What are some of the differences between Let’s look at a few examples of other non-value-added activities:
a value-added and a non-value-added
activity?  
• Counting inventory
2. In your workplace, what are the most
common forms of non-value-added • Moving parts from one location to another
activities?

3. What are some necessary non-value-added • Logging in and out of jobs


activities in your workplace?
• Changeovers in equipment and equipment maintenance
2
• In an office setting, filing reports  • Non-utilized People

Some non-value added activities are necessary, but the • Transportation


customer does not want to pay for these activities.  For
• Inventory
instance, machine maintenance is certainly necessary,
but the customer is not willing to pay extra for it. In order • Motion
to maximize profits, we need to eliminate waste. We
• Excess Processing
need to look at our non-value-added activities and see
which ones we can reduce or eliminate.

Let’s consider eight of the major types of waste within


organizations. To make it easy to remember, the first
letter of these eight wastes form the acronym
DOWNTIME.

• Defects

• Overproduction

• Waiting
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Do
Value and Waste

TRY IT OUT

1. Go to your workplace and identify three


value-added activities and three non-
value-added activities. 

2. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team. 

4
Check
Value and Waste

Review 1.1 Check your understanding


Present what your found to your team members. 
with these questions about value and
waste. Instructor Note: Depending on the size of your team, select individuals
to share what types of value or waste they have found. Give each
Question 1 of 3
Which of the following is a
participant about a minute to share their findings. Then lead a
value-added activity? discussion based on what each person brought up. Some people may
see necessary waste as value. Help everyone to realize waste for what
A. Waiting it is, regardless of whether it is necessary or not.

B. Moving products
Watch The Movie - Value & Waste (Part 2)
C. Assembling a prod-
uct

D. Passing along a prod-


uct that could be de-
fective

Check Answer

5
Act
Value and Waste

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Value-added activities change, transform Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
or add features to information, materials
or the product for which customers are principles will you anchor in your company?
willing to pay.

2. As we minimize the non-value-added


activities in our organization, we save time
and resources that can then be used in
value-added activities. This transformation
will ultimately increase our profits.

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Big Idea

World-class companies work to eliminate
defects from their processes. This frees up
resources that would otherwise be spent Chapter 2

Defects
correcting mistakes.
Plan
Defects

Watch The Movie One of the most common forms of waste is defects. Defects include:

• Information that is incomplete, inaccurate or untimely

• Material or products that do not meet the specifications

In manufacturing, not only was the time spent making a defective


product wasted, but the time needed to repair or rework the product
also uses up valuable production time.  Defective products can cause
late shipments and customer returns.  Sometimes defective products
can get past internal inspection processes and cause problems for end
THINGS TO CONSIDER customers.  When a defective product is purchased, it can cause
1. When was the last time that you received unhappy customers, hurt future sales and cost valuable resources to
defective information or material from
someone else? repair. 
2. When was the last time that you sent
In the office, information needs to be complete, accurate and timely.
defective information or material to the
next person in the process? Any variance from this in the workplace creates defective information.
3. When was the last time that your final Vital business decisions require quality information, and defects can
customer got defective information or
materials? have serious consequences.

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Shiego Shingo, a best-selling author and TPS Expert,
highlighted a key to minimizing defects when he
said,"The causes of defects lie in worker errors, and
defects are the results of neglecting those errors. It
follows that mistakes will not turn into defects if worker
errors are discovered and eliminated beforehand".

As we analyze how to reduce defects, let's look at the


process in our organization and where it would be
easiest for an error to occur. Once we identify “hotspots”
of where errors are likely to happen we can identify the
root causes of the defects and brainstorm ways to stop
them from happening.

Shiego Shingo

9
Do
Defects

TRY IT OUT

1. Go to your workplace with your co-


workers and analyze the following
questions:

• When was the last defect you dealt with?

• What caused the defect?

2. Analyze the processes that you currently


perform and identify three specific tasks
or "hotspots" where it would be easiest to
make a mistake. Brainstorm what could be
done to ensure that defects are not
created. 

3. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team. 

Information Defect

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Check
Defects

Review 2.1 Check your understanding


Share which potential problems you and your co-workers identified for
with these questions about defects. your workplace. Discuss the ideas you brainstormed about making sure
these hotspots don't result in defects. 
Question 1 of 4
True or false, defects refer only
to material products that have
physical problems with them?

A. True

B. False

Check Answer

Maintenance Defect
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12
Act
Defects

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Defects include: Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
• Incomplete or inaccurate information   principles will you anchor in your company?
• Materials or products that do not meet
specifications

2. It is much less expensive to complete the


product right the first time than to rework
it

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Big Idea

Eliminating overproduction from our processes
improves flow within a workplace and helps
reduce many other forms of waste Chapter 3

Overproduction
simultaneously. 
Plan
Overproduction

Watch The Movie Overproduction occurs when we produce more product than is needed
within the near future. It is one of the worst wastes because it hides or
creates many other wastes. Overproduction prohibits the smooth flow
of material, making it highly costly to a manufacturing plant.  It
increases other wastes like excess transportation, excess motion and
unused inventory.  

When production is not coordinated with demand, extra parts and


finished goods are produced. These then need to be stored before
finally being sold.  This increases the amount of space needed for
THINGS TO CONSIDER storing parts, finished goods and raw materials.  This also expends
1. When was the last time that you created more man hours to store and manage the extra inventory.
more product than was needed?

2. What were the reasons that you created Overproduction wastes time and can slow down production of
more products than were needed?
important products and makes it harder to ship on time. The man hours
that were used to produce the excess products could have been used
to produce things that could be sold immediately. Sometimes
overproduction is caused by quality problems. If, for example, a

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company knows that it will lose a number of units along
the production process, the company may decide to
produce extra units to make sure that the customer’s
order is satisfied. Overproduction can occur anywhere in
the system, including the creation of excess information,
excess computer files or excess paperwork.  

Yasuhiro Monden, an author on the Toyota Production


System, writes, "It is the principal subject of the Toyota
production system to control overproduction - to ensure
that all processes make products according to the sales
velocity of the market" (Yasuhiro Monden, Toyota
Production System: An Integrated Approach to Just-In-
Time).

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Do
Overproduction

TRY IT OUT

1. Go to your workplace and analyze the


following questions: 

• Where do you find the most overproduction


occurring?

• Is it an overproduction of information or of
materials?

• What is the root cause of the


overproduction? 

• Could it be a quality issue?

• Could it be a problem with a system that


requires the overproduction?

• Is it just the way that things have always


been done?

• What are the costs of overproduction? If you


didn't have to do it, what could be
accomplished?

2. Brainstorm ways of eliminating


overproduction. 

3. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team.

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Check
Overproduction

Share what you and your co-workers identified as the root cause of the
Review 3.1 Check your understanding
with these questions about overproduction in your workplace. Discuss the real costs of allowing
overproduction.
this waste as well as the ideas you brainstormed about how to

Question 1 of 4 eliminate it.


True or False, when overproduc-
tion happens there are usually
other wastes occurring simulta-
neously?

A. True

B. False

Check Answer

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Act
Overproduction

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Overproduction is making more product Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
than is needed or making it long before it
is needed  principles will you anchor in your company?

2. Creating more product than is needed


restricts the smooth flow of material and
creates other wastes such as
transportation, excess motion and unused
inventory

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Big Idea

Waiting creates no value so world class
companies work to eliminate it from their
processes. Chapter 4

Waiting
Plan
Waiting

Watch The Movie There can be few things in our lives as aggravating as waiting. We can
think of wait time from two perspectives: (1) from the worker’s point of
view, and (2) in relation to product flow. 

Waiting from the worker’s point of view

Waste occurs when a worker is being paid while having to wait for
materials to be delivered, for a line stoppage to be cleared or for a
machine to process a part. The waste is not only paying employees to
do nothing but also lost income from products not sold.

THINGS TO CONSIDER Some costs of waiting include:


1. How do you feel when you have to wait for
another person to complete a task before 1. Paying the production line workers who are forced to remain idle
you can proceed with your work?

2. What were the circumstances that 2. The cost of products that could have been produced and sold
occurred the last time you caused while waiting.
someone else to wait to perform their job? 

Waiting and Product Flow



When there is excessive work-in-process, the parts wait on each other

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to be processed.  Imagine a process that can only • Changeover
process one part at a time. If the process receives a
• Unbalanced work loads
batch of 10 parts the 10th part waits for the 9 parts in
front of it to be processed first.  The 1st part waits for the • Long conveyance distances and long cycles
9 parts behind it to be processed before moving on to
the next step.  If the process time is 6 minutes, then
there is 54 minutes of wasteful waiting time in a batch of
10.

A few of the causes of waiting include

• Defects

• Rework

• Batch production

• Equipment downtime

• Unscheduled maintenance

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Do
Waiting

TRY IT OUT

1. Go with your team to your workplace and analyze the most common
processes that you do. Look for the "hotspots" that may have caused
waiting in the past.

• When was the last time members of the team had to wait to
perform their job?

• What processes are most vulnerable to waiting?

• How much waiting time is there in your product flow?

2. Once you have accomplished this, return to share what you have found
with your team. 

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Check
Waiting

Review 4.1 Check your understanding


Based upon past experience and the hotspots that the team identified
with these questions about waiting. in the Do phase discuss the following: 

Question 1 of 4
Which is not one of the perspec-
tives that we use to analyze What was the root cause of this waiting? 
waiting?

Note: This is not meant to become a blame game, merely an analysis to


A. The customer’s per-
find the root causes of waiting in the organization. Most often, the root
spective
causes of waiting are structural or situational rather than a faulty
B. The worker’s per- characteristic of a person or group of people.
spective

C. The perspective of
product flow What are the main costs of waiting in your workplace?

What could have been done to avoid that waste?


Check Answer

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Act
Waiting

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Waiting is time lost from useful activities Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
2. Waiting can cost the company money and principles will you anchor in your company?
product time in work-in-progress. 

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Big Idea

World class companies discover and unlock
human potential. 
Chapter 5

Non-Utilized KSA
Plan
Non-Utilized People

Watch The Movie There is so much potential in our organizations that is silently
imprisoned in cubicles and in closed workstations. Often, people's
knowledge, skills and abilities go undiscovered.  This may be because
workers don’t tell anyone about their talents, because workers are not
given a chance to demonstrate their skills or because the company's
culture might not allow them to do things that are outside their normal
job function.   

We are often surprised when we find out about the skills of other
people.  These skills are often hidden and unappreciated until someone
THINGS TO CONSIDER asks about them.  Let’s consider a few implications of fully
1. What skills are you naturally talented at? understanding worker’s hidden skills. If we thought everyone had
2. Do you feel that you able to fully employ hidden skills:
your talents in the workplace? 

3. What new skills do you most wish to • We would ask people about their interests, hobbies, and skills more
develop?  
often
4. Would you behave differently toward others
if you assumed that everyone had hidden
• We would give people more challenging assignments
skills and talents that were underutilized?

27
• We would increase cross-training through the plant in an irregular pattern, some workers
could be overburdened while others may be starved for
• We would invite individuals with diverse skill-sets to
work. 
form dynamic teams

Jason Fried and David Hansson, the authors of


“Rework”, challenge us to, "Create a rock star
environment… there’s a ton of untapped potential
trapped under lame policies, poor direction, and stifling
bureaucracies…You’ll find people are waiting to do great
work. They just need to be given the chance".

Consider the process flow in your area of production.


Do your products pass through the same worker
unnecessarily?  It may seem like a few seconds per
product is not that much time, but if you think of those
few extra handling seconds in terms of how many
hundreds of products that can be made daily, time can
add up fast.  If the work flow is inconsistent or it moves
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Do
Non-Utilized People

TRY IT OUT

Select one or more of the following activities to complete.

Activity 1 - Workplace Observation

Go to your workplace and observe the layout of the physical facility. 

• Is the room set up in a way that makes sharing ideas easy? 

• What barriers to communication exist in the workplace? 

• What structures or processes enhance people's ability to contribute


their knowledge, skills or abilities?

Activity 2 - Co-Worker Q&A

Find a co-worker and ask them the following questions:

• What is a skill that you have that nobody knows about?

• If you were in charge of the workplace what would you do differently?

Activity 3 - Two Truths and a Lie

In your workbook, fill in the following three sections about yourself: (1) knowledge,
(2) skills and (3) abilities. Pick two of the lines to write something true about
yourself that people generally wouldn’t know. On the other, write a lie about
yourself. The object is to conceal which is a lie. Share what you write with the
group. The group attempts to guess which is a lie.

Once you have accomplished this, return to share what you have found with your
team. 

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Check
Non-Utilized People

Review 5.1 Check your understanding If you did activity 1:


with these questions about Non-Utilized
People. Discuss what physical barriers hinder the free exchange of knowledge,
skills and abilities. What facilitates people's willingness to contribute
Question 1 of 4
Employees are generally un- their knowledge, skills and abilities? 
derutilized in which of the fol-
lowing ways? If you did activity 2: 

Discuss the following:


A. Giving them too
much time off What did you learn about your co-worker that you didn't know?
B. Allowing knowledge, What changes would your co-worker make to the workplace if they
skills and abilities to
go undiscovered were in charge?

C. Training them too If you did activity 3:


much and not work-
Discuss what new knowledge, skills or abilities have been discovered
ing enough
because of the activity. How can they be used to benefit the team and
Check Answer company?

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Act
Non-Utilized People

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Find out what knowledge, skills and Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
abilities those around you have
principles will you anchor in your company?
2. We can underutilize ourselves and co-
workers and should continuously be
looking for new ways to improve the
efficiency of our work by discovering and
using hidden skills

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Big Idea

World class organizations save people energy
and resources by eliminating unnecessary
movement of parts, assemblies and Chapter 6

Transportation
information. 
Plan
Transportation

Watch The Movie Transportation in manufacturing is defined as moving parts, assemblies


and information from one place to another.  It is amazing to track the
total distance that products have traveled before becoming finished.
 Poor plant layouts and machinery locations increase transportation
costs in the workplace.  Although we cannot completely, it is important
to consider that it is a cost and not added value to the product.

In an office, transportation can also be identified by the distance a


document moves or the number of people involved in an email.  An
efficient office should not have unnecessary movements of documents
THINGS TO CONSIDER (including electronic communication) or extra people involved in a
1. What are the greatest sources of process.  For example, the number of signatures required to finalize a
transportation waste in your company?
process can increase transportation costs. Transportation also involves
2. How many workstations must you pass
through in order to complete your job? the number of work stations someone has to go to before they get their
job done.  

Efficiency of transportation within the system of the workplace will


increase flexibility and reduce lead-time.

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Transportation waste can be seen when components or
tools are not stored close to the point of use.  Try
keeping a small amount of inventory near the production
area. This will avoid having to bring the product back and
forth from a warehouse.  Using “milk runs” is another
good way to reduce transportation.  This involves picking
up or delivering multiple products on one route.  Instead
of making a trip for one purpose, pick up and of drop off
multiple items during the trip. This idea also works well
when dealing with deliveries from outside vendors.  

Storing tools or components farther than an arm’s length


away is considered transportation waste.  Look for ways
to store components in use close to the worker
whenever possible.  When this is achieved, continue
looking for improvements in streamlining transportation
costs by eliminating unnecessary motion or excess
communication.
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Do
Transportation

TRY IT OUT

1. Using a rolling tape measure, measure the


total distance that the material moves:

• From your internal supplier to your


work area

• Within your work area

• From your work area to your internal


customer

2. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team. 

35
Check
Transportation

Review 6.1 Check your understanding


Based upon the information that you gathered in the Do phase,
with these questions about evaluate your biggest sources of transportation waste.
Transportation.
• What are the potential costs or consequences of having this waste?
Question 1 of 4
Transportation waste refers to: • What is slowed down because of this transportation?

Remember that even small inefficiencies, when compounded over a


A. Removing line block-
ages to the shipping de- long period of time, can cause large losses in resources. Discuss what
partment experiments you might run in order to eliminate the waste of
B. Paying too much for transportation.
UPS or FedEx to ship
the product

C. Moving parts, assem-


blies and information
from one place to an-
other

Check Answer

36
Act
Transportation

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Transportation involves moving Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
information, parts or assemblies from one
place to another principles will you anchor in your company?

2. You can reduce or eliminate transportation


waste by moving needed tools and
materials to within arm’s length of workers

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Big Idea

World class companies keep only the
necessary levels of inventory on hand so they
are as efficient and cost-effective as possible. Chapter 7
 
Inventory
Plan
Inventory

Watch The Movie Inventory creates waste because it requires space for storage, it ties up
cash flow and it requires labor to move and to store. Further, the cost of
tracking the inventory and the amount of time spent sorting and
counting this inventory are also waste.  

There are four general types of inventory:

1. Finished goods inventory

2. Sub-assembly inventory

3. Raw materials inventory including office supplies


THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. What sorts of inventories do you deal with 4. Maintenance and repair parts inventory
in your workplace?

2. What are the largest inventories in your Tom Greenwood, Director of the University of Tennessee's Lean
company?
Enterprise Forum, said "Finished goods are products that we have
3. What portion of this inventory could be made that no one wants. Raw materials are products that we have
reduced without negatively affecting
operations? bought that we don’t need". As we add up the cost of our inventory, we

39
must realize that we are actually viewing piles of money Raw Materials Inventory
trapped in our warehouse.
Raw component inventory is usually the largest inventory.
Finished Goods Inventory  Most companies believe it is a necessity to carry days of
raw parts inventory.  While there is a need to cover
Finished Goods Inventory is inventory that is ready to
vendor delivery time, additional inventory of raw
ship.  Management must determine how much finished
components must be kept to a minimum.  
goods inventory to carry.  Minimizing Finished Goods
Inventory is optimal.  Finished Goods Inventory is Office Supplies Inventory is often overlooked because it
generally the most expensive inventory because its cost is not directly related to production. Just like the other
includes labor, overhead  and material consumed during forms of inventory, however, holding more office supplies
production.  than necessary lowers the profitability of an
organization. 
Sub-Assembly Inventory

Another type of inventory is sub-assembly inventory. This


inventory gives companies the ability to quickly satisfy
customer orders. Although less expensive to carry than
finished goods inventory, it is still costly to hold. 

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Maintenance and Repair Parts Inventory 

Due to critical situations that call for maintenance and
repair parts inventory, it is important that this stock be
well managed.  Although you may never know exactly
when a major line down or machine issue will occur, you
can develop a preventative maintenance system that will
minimize these occurrences. Creating a preventative
maintenance program decreases the maintenance and
repair parts needed. 

41
Do
Inventory

TRY IT OUT

1. Go to your workplace with your team and


look for various forms inventory. Depending
on the type of work that you are involved in,
this could range from office supplies to
manufacturing materials. The consequences
of inventory are equally important to office
and shop work. As you search, try to answer
the following questions.

• What is the root cause of having this


inventory?

• Are there certain processes that may be


unbalanced which are resulting in this
excess?

• Are piles of inventory being created


between workstations?

• How much inventory do you actually


need to keep?

• What is the monetary value of this


excess inventory?

2. Once you have accomplished this, return to


share what you have found with your team. 

42
Check
Inventory

Review 7.1 Check your understanding


As a group, discuss how current inventory levels are affecting the
with these questions about Inventory. efficiency of your workplace. What changes could be implemented to
optimize the quantity of inventory that is held? What processes should
Question 1 of 5
Which is not one of the four be adjusted in order to minimize the amount of inventory in the
main types of inventory? workplace?

A. Finished goods

B. Sub-Assembly

C. Raw materials

D. Maintenance and re-


pair parts

E. Rework and defec-


tive products

Check Answer

43
Act
Inventory

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Inventory is a form of waste that requires Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
labor and space to move, store, track and
count principles will you anchor in your company?

2. Although it is important to have the


supplies necessary to carry out business
functions, excessive inventory can be very
costly and should be avoided

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Big Idea

World class employees eliminate excess
motion to maximize their efficiency. 
Chapter 8

Motion
Plan
Motion

Watch The Movie Motion is essential in order to get things done, whether it is loading and
unloading equipment, entering information into a computer or
assembling parts of a product.  Excess motion is another silent form of
waste in production process. Sometimes the waste-causing activities
appear camouflaged as harmless tasks such as:

• Searching for tools

• Reaching, twisting or bending 

• Constantly rearranging a workspace


THINGS TO CONSIDER
• Tracking someone down to get information or clarification
1. How much do you need to move to get the
tools necessary to work?
It is easy for seemingly little movements to add up to a large amount of
2. When were the last times you needed to
leave your workstation during production? time. Any motion that does not directly improve the product that your

3. What processes require the most motion to


customer wants is excess motion.  Excess motion may seem
perform? necessary to get the job done.  However, when you learn how to
identify unnecessary actions and remove them, productivity will improve

46
and product will begin to flow more efficiently. Eliminating
excess motion does not always mean eliminating the
entire motion.  It could simply involve reducing the range
of the motion.  By having tools, parts and information a
little closer to the working area, it will reduce the amount
needed. When reducing excess motion, small
improvements can add up to a big difference

“The only place that work and motion are the same thing
is the zoo where people pay to see the animals move
around” (Taiichi Ohno, Creator of the Toyota Production
System).

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Do
Motion

TRY IT OUT

1. This activity should be done prior to the


group meeting. Video yourself performing
your job for 10-15 minutes. Review the
video footage and analyze your movement
for excess motion. 

2. Alternatively, ask a co-worker to analyze


you doing your job and point out excess
motion.

3. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team. 

48
Check
Motion

In your team, discuss what you observed during the Do phase.


Review 8.1 Check your understanding
with these questions about Motion.
• What excess motion are you performing?
Question 1 of 2
• How would rearranging the physical elements of your workspace
Placing tools or materials fur-
ther than __________ away cre- (tools, materials, furniture, etc.) be able to decrease motion waste?
ates motion waste.

A. One room

B. Ten feet

C. Arm’s length

D. Walking distance

Check Answer

49
Act
Motion

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Motion is necessary, but may cause loss Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
of time. Excess motion is waste.
principles will you anchor in your company?
2. Excess motion is any motion that does not
directly improve the product your
customer wants.

50
Big Idea

World class organizations consider whether the
work they are doing is actually necessary and if
it adds value to the final product. Chapter 9

Excess Processing
Plan
Excess Processing

Watch The Movie Excess processing means to do more work than is necessary.  We
have to be very careful when we look at this type of waste.  We must
make sure that we are building the product to the specifications. An in-
depth look at current processes should reveal where the excess
processing exists.  

The three main questions to consider when looking at excess


processing are:

1. Is the work actually necessary according to the product


specifications?
THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. Does every step of your process add value 2. Does the work add value to the product?
to the product?

2. What are the major tasks that you perform? 3. Is there a better way to perform the work? 
What ways can you make them more
efficient?  Let's look a little more closely at each of these questions.

52
Is the work actually necessary according to the is not likely to either know or care.  Excess processes
product specifications? need to be evaluated and eliminated. 

When analyzing excess processing, we first need to Is there a better way to perform the work?
consider whether the work is actually necessary and if it
When focusing on eliminating waste of excess
adds value to the final product.  
processing, you must always look for better methods to
• Is it part of the specification?   produce your product. 

• Does it increase the value of the product or If a machine is running a staking process and holds the
improve the function of it?   parts for 10 seconds, can you get the same result if the
part is held for only 9 seconds?  When molding product
• Does it make the product more appealing to the
in a 150 ton machine, can you get the same results out
consumer?  
of a 100 ton machine?  Many of the fixes in this area may
Does the work add value to the product? not be easy or inexpensive, but eliminating over
processing can be a savings by increasing throughput.  
Imagine if in the automotive industry manufacturers
For example, one second reduction in cycle time from a
polished every piece of the car, not just the visible parts.
10 second cycle time to a 9 second cycle will increase
Certainly the car be more polished but the end customer
throughput in 8 hours by 320 parts.  Over the course of
53
250 working days it would net an additional 80,000 parts
in a year.  Remember, this is a one second cycle time
reduction on one part.

How many seconds can you reduce the processes


within your organization? What will be the savings to
your company?  

54
Do
Excess Processing

TRY IT OUT

1. Go to your workplace and make a list of


the most common five processes that you
are involved in. Select one to analyze for
excess processing and ask yourself the
three key questions:

• Is the work actually necessary according


to the product specifications?

• Does the work add value to the product?

• Is there a better way to perform the


work? 

2. Once you have accomplished this, return


to share what you have found with your
team. 

55
Check
Excess Processing

Review 9.1 Check your understanding


Assess the collective learning of the group. Who uncovered the most
with these questions about Excess excess processing? Discuss what the potential costs of this extra work
Processing.
are. Try to calculate it as quantitatively as possible. 
Question 1 of 4
What is NOT one of the main • How much time does it take to complete? 
questions to consider when
looking at over-processing? • How much is the worker being paid to perform excess work? 

• How much more material could be sold if the time were saved? 
A. Is the work actually neces-
sary? All of these things comprise the cost of excess processing. What is the
bottom line impact to the company over the course of a year?
B. Will this be faster than keeping
to the specifications?

C. Does the work add value to


the product?

D. Is there a better way to per-


form the work?

Check Answer

56
Act
Excess Processing

THINGS TO REMEMBER Based on what you have discovered in the Do phase and learned in the
1. Over-processing causes waste by using Check phase, what adjustments will you make in your workplace? What
labor hours on tasks that do not add value
to the final product. principles will you anchor in your company?

2. Minuscule improvements in processes can


have enormous impact on the long-term
efficiency of an organization. 

57
Thank You

Congratulations! You’ve completed this
DOWNTIME e-book.

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Photos A special thanks to the following people who made this book
possible through their contributions of photographs.

Chapter 1 – Value and Waste

Image of waste basket courtesy of Zsuzsanna Kilian

Chapter 3 – Overproduction

Image of crayons courtesy of Pixel Perfect Digital. Used with permission under the Creative Commons attribution license.

Chapter 4 – Waiting

Image of hourglass courtesy of Aleksandra P. Used with permission.

Chapter 5 – Non-Utilized People

Image of boss speaking with co-worker courtesy of Srinivasan Murugesh. Used with permission

Image of chair wheels courtesy of Muriel Miralles de Sawicki. Used with permission.

Chapter 6 - Transportation

Image of forklift and rider courtesy of Carlos Chavez. Used with permission.

Image of container barge courtesy of Sam LeVan. Used with permission.

Chapter 8 - Motion

Image of industrial worker with shovel courtesy of Ian Beeby. Used with permission.

Image of monkey/chimpanzee courtesy of Zsolt Zatrok Dr. Used with permission.

Image of video camera courtesy of Wouter Moons. Used with permission.

Image of drill courtesy of Dennis Bos. Used with permission.

Chapter 9 – Excess Processing

Image of sparking machinery courtesy of Robert Parzychowski. Used with permission.


Non-value-added Activity

Any activities or actions that add no value to the product. Customers do not
want to pay more for non-value added activities, although non-value-added
activities often do affect the cost. Customers may pay for non-value-added
activities in time lost, frustration or money, but they would prefer not to. 

Related Glossary Terms


Value-added Activity

Index Find Term


Value

Anything that the end customer is willing to pay for.

Related Glossary Terms


Value-added Activity

Index Find Term


Value-added Activity

Any activity that changes, transforms and adds features to information,


materials or the product.  Customers, internal or external, are willing to pay for
these types of activities.

Related Glossary Terms


Drag related terms here

Index Find Term


Waste

Anything within a process that the end customer is not willing to pay for. Waste
is synonymous with non-value-added activities. There are eight major types of
wastes that form the acronym DOWNTIME. These wastes are:

Defects

Overproduction
Waiting

Non-utilized People
Transportation

Inventory

Motion

Excess Processing

Related Glossary Terms


Non-value-added Activity

Index Find Term

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