Our Strategic Interest Group Meeting topic for April in Sudbury was; Identifying and Eliminating the Seven Deadly Wastes.   I would like to thank Softub Canada for hosting this event.

Waste elimination is one of the most successful ways to increase the productivity, output, quality and profitability of any business with very little capital outlay.   All processes have some sort of waste inherent in them, and it is critical to be able to identify them in order to eliminate them.   It is important to understand that all processes add either value or waste to the production of goods or service. Toyota's Chief Engineer Taiichi Ohno was one of the first people to identify and document the types of wastes that are found in all processes.   The identification and elimination of the seven deadly wastes is the core of the Toyota Production System and the backbone of lean manufacturing.   The seven deadly wastes are;

• Waste of over-production
• Waste of waiting
• Waste of transportation
• Waste in over-processing
• Waste of inventory
• Waste of motion
• Waste of correction

For each of the seven types of waste, there are root causes, symptoms and strategies to reduce or eliminate its effect on the processes, improving productivity, output, quality and profitability.   Our discussion today revolved around setting up teams and strategies to help identify and eliminate the seven deadly wastes.   It is very important to involve all the stakeholders of a specific process when it comes time to look at eliminating waste within a process.   Here are some key takeaways;

• It is very important to pick members that are part of the process being targeted.
• People from all levels of the organization should be included on the team, Senior Managers, Area Managers, Team Leaders and shop floor workers should all be involved.
• Direct observation is critical to identifying wastes within a process.
• It is important to establish a budget for the team to work within.
• Videotaping the process is an excellent tool to use in order to identify waste.
• Training for the team members in identifying the seven types of waste is imperative.
• It is beneficial to have team members, who are not familiar with a process... an opportunity to get a fresh eyes look.

During our discussion it was also noted that in tough economic times it is critical to start identifying and eliminating waste within your organization.   These types of events can be used not only on the shop floor but can also be used to target waste and inefficiencies with regards to clerical and administrative processes.

Again, I would like to thank Softub in Sudbury for graciously hosting this event.
Cheers,

Kevin McCormick.