Something's wrong with your process? Is something slowing you down?


Stay sharp and be aware of the different wastes that lingers around you!


WHAT IS WASTE?


Thee elements of process flow that add no value to the product or service, but only adds cost & time.


THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT WASTE:

  • Waste is really a symptom rather than the root cause of the problem
  • Waste points to problems within the process
  • We need to find and address the causes waste.


8 TYPES OF WASTES

  

OVERPRODUCTION


  • Producing work or providing a service prior to it being required or requested.
  • This is the greatest of all the wastes. If you overproduce some type of work or service, it encompasses many of the other wastes

 


WAITING


  • Waiting for anything, be it people, equipment, signatures, supplies or information
  • Usually a "low hanging fruit" and easy to identify and ripe of the taking


 

DEFECTS


  • Refers to all the processing required to correct a defect or mistake
  • Defects (either internal or external) result in additional processes (and possible services) that will add no value to the service
  • It takes a shorter time to do it correctly the first time than it does to do it over to correct the problem.


 


MOTION


  • Any excess movement of people, equipment, paper information, or electronic exchanges (e-mails, etc.) that does not add value
  • Can be created by poor physical layout or design, which can be responsible for more walking, reaching, or bending than necessary


 


EXTRA-PROCESSING


  • Putting more work or effort into things that a patient, physician, healthcare provider, etc. does not want or ask for


 


TRANSPORTATION


  • The excess movement of work that does not add value
  • Affects the delivery of any work within a facility


 


INVENTORY


  • Excess stock, supplies, and resources (Managers, staff, etc.)
  • Anything that take up space & ties up cash


 


NON-UTILIZED TALENT


  • Not utilizing the available talents and skills of staff to their fullest.
  • "Lean does not eliminate people; it allows them to be utilized wisely
  • "Identification and elimination of waste must be a daily activity throughout the facility by all personnel. And when this occurs, then and only then, will a continuous improvement culture emerge."



TRY THIS OUT!


Waste Basket Session Exercise


Instructions:


  1. Think about a process you are directly involved with
  2. Run through it from start to end
  3. Identify wastes within the process
  4. Categorize the wastes


Question:

  1. What will happen to the process and its output if you remove the wastes?