When I improve a process, the first step is to fully understand that process. I break down each step to fully understand the reason behind it. Once the process has been mapped, I then look at opportunities to reduce waste. There are seven categories, Inventory, Overproduction, Motion, Transportation, Waiting, Overprocessing, and Defect.

Inventory and Overproduction are the most obvious types of waste and that can be controlled by Production Management. Is extra product manufactured just in case someone orders extra? Or is it because the Kanban system hasn’t been updated periodically?

The next waste to look at is Defects. What’s the first pass yield and return rates? What measures are in place to prevent those defects? Analyze the data to decide the biggest defects and get some CAPAs going. Once the FPY is up, the rest of the categories of waste can be examined.
Spaghetti charts show motion. How can motion be reduced? How often are pieces touched, moved, turned around to complete tasks? Can operations be performed with fewer movements? Can tools be moved closer to the workbench?

Waiting seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone say they had to wait for another process. A Value Stream Map is an effective way to find bottle necks. If a machine for step A can process 20 units a minute and step B can process 40 units a minute, you need to find out if you can purchase another step A machine.

Transportation is another overlooked waste. Look at the flow of product. How often does a pallet of product have to move across the factory floor to get to the next step? Sometimes processes must be separated by distance. A paint booth exhaust system can only be located at the rear of the building while the wash tanks are where the drains are located. Walk the floor and analyze the floor plan.

Your process relies on your product delivering value to the customer, but over engineering and adding unnecessary steps creates the waste known as over-processing. Are you painting the inside of a sealed container? Drilling extra holes that won’t be used even though weight is not an issue? Are your production workers using more expensive hardware because they think it looks better?

How are you combatting waste in your production area? I would really like to know.