These 7 Waste Monsters are Killing Your Business

Editor's note: this transcript was generated by AI and has been lightly edited for clarity and relevance — some sections have been shortened or removed, and minor transcription errors corrected.

Full transcript

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These are the unseen gremlins wreaking havoc in your processes, and they could be killing your business — or, once identified, they could be what helps you save it.

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From a process improvement perspective, these wastes are an invaluable tool, because simply by reducing them you can improve process efficiency. But don't worry too much, because identifying them is the first step, and you're already about to conquer it.

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Transportation. Each time a product is moved, it stands the risk of being damaged, lost, or delayed. Transportation is a cost for no added value — it doesn't make any transformation to the product that the customer is willing to pay for.

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Inventory. Whether raw materials, work in process, or finished goods, inventory represents a capital outlay that hasn't yet produced an income for the producer or the customer. Anything not being actively processed to add value is waste.

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Motion. This refers to the damage the production process inflicts on the entity that creates the product, such as equipment wear and tear.

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Waiting. Whenever goods are not in transport or being processed, they are waiting. In traditional processes, a large part of a product's life is spent waiting to be worked on.

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Overprocessing. This occurs any time more work is done on a piece than is required by the customer — including using components that are more precise, complex, or expensive than necessary.

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Overproduction. This happens when constantly more product is produced than required. It's considered by some to be the worst waste, because it hides and generates all the others, leading to excess inventory that requires storage and preservation — activities that don't benefit the customer.

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Defects. Whenever defects occur, extra costs are incurred reworking the part or rescheduling production. Defects can sometimes double the cost of a single product.

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The reason for wanting to understand the 7 wastes is to identify them and stop them leaking money into your business processes. A common way to identify them is to capture your processes in a process map, identifying all the inputs and activities that transform into outputs.