“Lean” and “Continuous Improvement” methodologies are normally referred to in a manufacturing sense, but it can be applied anywhere, anytime. Lean methodology was first introduced by Taiichi Ohno from Toyota. What he created went on to become the Toyota Production System (TPS).
The TPS was focused on eliminating waste from the manufacturing process.
In business, it means eliminating or reducing waste from any system or process that doesn’t add value to your customer (“waste”).
Let’s take a look at 7 “waste” areas that MAY be affecting YOUR business (and your customers!). And remember, waste often disguises itself as productivity so keep your eyes peeled!
- Inventory
By this I mean too much inventory. “Just-in-case” stock, can be important to mitigate production delays or low quality. However, too much inventory increases storage needs and ties up cash flow.
In an office sense, this could be an inventory of projects that you have started and haven’t finished (WIP or work in process). Remember, busy doesn’t always mean effective, only manage what is possible, finish a project before adding another to your bucket, don’t let your bucket overflow.
- Waiting
When goods or tasks are not moving, “waiting waste” occurs, and this is easily recognizable as goods awaiting delivery, equipment waiting to be fixed, waiting for approvals or waiting for information.
- Defects
Defects cause rework, and don’t we hate re-doing something we have already done?! Not to mention it costs us money! Even worse, there may be no coming back from it – the product may end up in the bin. Checklists are key!
- Overproduction
Overproduction triggers the other 6 wastes to occur. Overproduction is producing more than the customer is willing to pay for. This can often be triggered by perfectionism!
For creatives, another way to look at this is, if ideas are produced too early they can often be obsolete by the time they’re needed.
- Motion
This means movements of workers or machinery that are complicated or unnecessary and can lead to injuries or missed deadlines.
In the office, this could also be mental motion. What’s the most common motion in the office? Looking for files! We can’t find what we need, we get distracted by something else on the journey and before we know it, we are down a rabbit hole and have completely forgotten what we started out to do.
- Transportation
Moving resources or materials, when the movement doesn’t add value to the product can be costly to your business and potentially damage the quality.
In an office, transportation of information often equals emails. Send complete thoughts, as a brief or quick response may lead to many more emails going backwards and forwards to clarify. Make sure your quick response doesn’t start a game of email ping pong. Conversely, don’t write an email novel with no point.
- Over-processing
This is doing work that doesn’t bring additional value or that brings more value than what the customer is willing to pay for. Adding features no one will use only increases your costs.
Multitasking fits in here as humans can’t multitask – it only leads to mistakes and reduces efficiency.
Sometimes “Lean” can be overwhelming to start, so start small. Making small improvements every day adds up to big improvements over time. And never stop, there is always more to do!
Amber is the owner of PUTTY. Check out how Amber’s team helps their clients wrangle their systems and tech HERE.
