Waste hit list

From HMCwiki

The need for a waste hit list is expressed well in a little known book called 'The Sayings of Shigeo Shingo' published by Productivity Press. Shingo, a Japanese master of improvement, was largly responsible for the Toyota production system. Shingo largely tells a story of a time he visited a CEO of a large manufacturing firm. On the wall was a poster with the slogan, "Eliminate Waste". Shigeo remarked, “There is something wrong with your poster”. The CEO looked puzzled. Shigeo said, ‘It ought to say Find Waste.’ Most people will get rid of waste once they see it and they have the means to get rid of it. It’s the waste they don’t see that robs them blind”

Organizations must always keep in mind the greatest waste is the waste they don’t see. Real waste lurks in forms that do not look like waste. It looks like the work and processes that have been grown accustomed to. It grows out of the assumption that the way it is, is the way it has to be. If our workforce will begin looking at their environment from a different viewpoint, a world of changeable improvement will open up.

Henry Ford nailed it on the head in 1926. "Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. The easiest of all wastes and the hardest to correct, is the waste of time, because wasted time does not litter the floor like wasted material"

So go find waste! Check if there are correctable wastes below being ignored.

Organizational waste

• ineffective meetings
• poor or incomplete communication
• a miss-aligned workforce
• an abundance of what is not needed
• noise interference with communication
• rework, redo, non value-added activity
• not sharing
• not engaged
• misdirection
• being under resourced, under managed
• being over managed, over resourced
• unbalanced change
• 1 sigma thinking from 6 sigma people
• going slow when fast won’t hurt
• short or low expectations
• change without a chance to stabilize
• jerk reaction without consideration
• cumbersome support systems
• non-customer oriented interfaces
• optimizing the part over the good of the whole
• incentivizing ‘A’ and expecting ‘B’
• not knowing who knows what
• not knowing who approves what
• avoidable slow approvals
• charging uphill without air support
• not seeing the same problem together
• an un or under defined problem
• turf and ego battles
• not asking those who do the work
• auto-bob at decision time
• efforts heading down the wrong path
• wrong assumptions
• a negative atmosphere
• avoidable cycle time delays
• an unbalanced team
• unclear signals
• fear to make a mistake
• instructions other than where they are needed
• avoidance of a necessary decision
• unclean handoffs between departments
• a secret or unclear vision
• speaking right and turning left
• unusable measures
• misleading measures
• an environment unfriendly to new ideas
• making a needed change too late
• mismatch between workload and manpower
• allowing pacifity when initiative is needed
• a workforce that doesn’t take ownership
• not giving the tools or equipment to do a good job

Personal waste

• no or slow growth
• not learning from failure
• untapped potential
• stopping short of achieving success
• not sharing yourself
• grumbling, worry
• a cautious spirit without ideas to overcome
• bitterness
• uncaptured moments
• not admitting a mistake
• hopelessness
• missing reality
• important words not heeded
• a wounded heart not felt
• worry about the future, reliving the past
• forsaken trusts
• an unchecked harmful behavior
• inequity
• untested assumptions
• compromise of tomorrow for today
• missing an opportunity to praise

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