The 7 Wastes

“A Structured approach to identifying and

eliminating waste from the working
environment”

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 What is work ?
ADDING
EQUIPMENT RUNNING
VALUE

READING

CHECKING
USING A
CHANGING COMPUTER
DATA

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Who pays for what?
• What does the customer pay for?

Good Product.

• What does the Company pay for?

Everything else

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
Use your wisdom not your money!

Establish the best method of

doing work within the
existing framework and facilities.

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 The Elimination of Waste

Identify, Categorise and Eliminate all waste

Benefits:

Reduce Costs – More effecient

Improves use of time – Work smarter not harder

Helps to Identify bottlenecks – Streamline the process

Makes problem solving easier

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 The Three Divisions of Work
Value Added:
Any process step that
changes the nature, shape
or characteristics of the
product or service, in line
with customer
requirements
e.g. designing, extruding,
expanding, fabricating
etc.
- it’s what the customer
is willing to pay for
MAXIMISE!
Non Value Added:
Any work carried out,
which is necessary under
current conditions but
does not increase product
value e.g. inspection, part
movement, tool changing,
maintenance etc.
MINIMISE!
Waste:
All other meaningless, non
essential activities.
- 7 Waste categories
ELIMINATE! © BLUETEALEAF 2006
What does the Operator do?
• Operational Activity and Movement
– Value adding e.g. mixing, forming
– Non-Value adding e.g. set-up, maintenance

• Waste Activity and Movement

– Operations unnecessary for production -
eliminate immediately.

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 There is waste in all processes
Objective: To raise the ratio of Value Added
operations to Non-value Added and Waste.

Operator Time

WASTE NVA VA
Eliminate Reduce

NVA VA
More time available for other activities

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 The 7 Wastes
• Inventory
• Transport
• Process
• Idle time
• Operator Motion
• Bad Quality
• Over Production

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 7 Wastes definitions
• Inventory
– Raw Material
– WIP
– Stock

• Transport
– Unnecessary movement or handling
– Moving with no load

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Inventory
Too much of anything
Examples:
Large stocks of materials and supplies
Filed paperwork or computer files that are never used
Reports or magazines never read

Benefits of reducing inventory:

Less money tied up.
Less floor space and storage equipment needed.
Less handling and transportation.
Quicker discovery of quality problems and response to change in requirements.
Reduced risk of obsolete stock and stock loss. © BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Transportation
Excessive / unnecessary moving or handling of work,
information, documentation or supplies
Examples:
Filing paperwork that will never be used
Storing of supplies not at their point of use
Borrowing supplies from colleagues
Organising unneeded items

Benefits of reducing transportation:

Reduced cost of handling systems.
Less activity and disruption.
Reduced risk of handling damage, lost documents etc
© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 7 Wastes definitions
• Process
– Set up or downtime
– Inappropriate process

• Idle time
– Operator inactivity during cycle
– Machine inactivity during cycle

• Operator Motion
– Unnecessary or excessive – walking, bending, stretching, twisting and reaching

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Complex Process
Extra mental or physical non-value added steps

Examples:
Excessive time spent on organizing work or setting up systems.
Too many required approvals for action to be taken
Too many steps to complete a task / E-folders
Reports/E-mails published that are not understandable
Quality in excess of what’s required.

Benefits of eliminating process waste:

Eliminate cost of unnecessary processes.
Improved flow of work through the office
Increased availability of staff resource. © BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Idle Time
People or equipment inactivity.
Examples:
Meetings starting late
On hold on the telephone
Computer processing (searches, start-ups)
Ordered supplies that have not arrived
Late reports, pay checks or projects
Photocopier and fax machine processing

Benefits of eliminating idle time:

Better utilisation of staff time.
Better utilisation of equipment.
Less boredom or frustration © BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Operator Motion
Any unnecessary or excessive walking, bending, twisting,
turning and reaching.
Examples:
Equipment too far away from users
Digging through stacks of paperwork
Searching through drawers for essential items
Dialing full phone numbers instead of speed dialing

Benefits of eliminating operator motion waste:

Better working environment – less employee fatigue.
Less work related injuries and absence.
More productive work environment – happier staff © BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Operator Motion:
Any unnecessary or excessive walking, bending, twisting,
turning and reaching.

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 7 Wastes definitions
• Bad Quality GOOD
? BAD
– Production of scrap and reworking of bad parts

• Over production
– Overunning an unstable process
– Manufacturing ahead schedule
• Worst waste of all
• Produces excess inventory throughout system
• All other wastes are produced as a result
• Hides manufacturing problems

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Bad Quality / Correction
Doing something over to bring it up to standard
Examples:
Spelling mistakes on a document
Inaccurate documents, reports, data, pay checks – or missing information
Inaccurate rumours / little or no communication
High levels telephone activity dealing with mistakes and corrections

Benefits of eliminating bad quality:

Improved customer satisfaction.
Lower costs of correction and materials used
Improved efficiency and ability to meet workload requirements
Less stress and distraction
© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 Overproduction
Producing work that is not required
Examples:
Attendance at meetings that provides no value
Oral & written communication that is too wordy
Producing extra copies, spares etc

Benefits of not overproducing:

Releases time to meet current requirement.
Eliminates double-handling, filing etc.
Reduced risk to changes in plans etc.

WORST WASTE OF ALL AS ALL OTHER WASTES

ARE PRODUCED AS A RESULT © BLUETEALEAF 2006
Approach to Waste Elimination:
Identify
-Observe and map the process (use a video or go to the work
area and record activity).
-Note all value added, non-value activities and wastes
Categorise
-Share observations with the team
-Prioritise wastes (which ones do we need to solve first?)
Eliminate
-Countermeasure
© BLUETEALEAF 2006
COMPANY SUMMARY
OPERATION Process Flow Chart Over
PROCESS Total Step
PRODUCT Total Distance
DATE Total Time
Time Flow Value
No. Element Qt y Part s Dist ance To t al Per Accum Op er 'n Tran's Delay Insp 'n St o re VA NVA Wast e Comm

TOTALS

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 The Elimination of Waste
Benefits:

Reduce Costs
Makes problem solving easier
Improve production capacity
Helps to Identify bottlenecks
Better working environment

© BLUETEALEAF 2006
 The 7 Wastes
• Inventory
• Transport
• Process
• Idle time
• Operator Motion
• Bad Quality
• Over Production

© BLUETEALEAF 2006