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The 7 Types of Waste in Lean Manufacturing
1 minute read

The 7 Types of Waste in Lean Manufacturing [Infographic]

Waste reduction is the soul of lean manufacturing. Your continuous improvement depends on digital tools that keep pace with the factories of the future.

By
6 August 2019

    Waste?

    We bet that you've dedicated a lot of your time to learning about - and trying to eliminate - manufacturing waste.

    Waste in lean manufacturing
    anything that doesn't add value to the product (or customer). 

    But waste isn't always obvious. Sure, things like employees lounging by machines or throwing away good materials obviously cost your business money, time, and product quality.

    Effective lean manufacturing aims to identify the subtle and far-reaching waste factors that creep into your lean manufacturing processes and cost you in the long run.

     

    The 7 types of waste in lean manufacturing.

    There are seven key areas of waste factored into lean manufacturing, as originally identified by Kaizen master Taiichi Ohno are:

    1. Transport
    2. Inventory
    3. Motion
    4. Waiting
    5. Overproduction
    6. Overprocessing
    7. Defects

    We’ve gathered them all in an infographic below (click to enlarge!):

    https://www.swipeguide.com/hubfs/7%20types%20of%20waste%20in%20lean%20manufacturing.webp

     

    Make waste a part of the past.

    The factory floor is changing fast. Industry 4.0 is revolutionizing the factory floor and processes are only becoming faster and more complex. Modern workers simply need better, faster, and smarter solutions for process management and training.

    Waste reduction is the soul of lean manufacturing. To truly enact a cycle of continuous improvement in our modern era, businesses need to provide their shop floors with comprehensive digital tools that can keep pace with the factories of the future

    Want to learn more?

    👉 Learn Lean philosophies: What is Takt Time in manufacturing?
    👉 Best devices for the frontline - our device recommendations.
    👉 Improving standard work for Heineken: Read the Customer Story.

    Heineken

    Author

    Chris loves to share his expertise on future-proof work instruction software for frontline teams in manufacturing. Particularly, how digital, visual work instructions can make a lasting impact on motivation, productivity, and operational excellence culture.
    Read author profile

    Revisions

    Original version | 6 August 2019
    Written by:
    Reviewed by:

    It's time to simplify frontline training

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