Ivan Carillo

LEAN MANUFACTURING

HOW TO IDENTIFY AND ELIMINATE

THE 8 WASTES OF LEAN
Ivan Carillo

Do you want brilliant processes that

+make simple flows

+get maximum output
+waste minimum resources

...at scale?

Then, start recognizing the 8 Wastes of

Lean - also referred to as TIMWOODS.

WHAT IS WASTE?

Waste can be defined as...

“any activity which doesn’t add value

to the customer or that the customer isn’t
willing to pay for”

Lean aims to remove all the wastes from

your work processes.
Ivan Carillo

TIMWOODS
It’s an acronym for

Transportation
Inventory
Motion
Waiting
Overproduction
Overprocessing
Defects
Skills

Originally there were seven wastes identified by Taiichi

Ohno as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS).

An eight waste, ‘Underutilized Talent’ or ‘Skills’, was

later introduced in the 1990s.

Being able to see these wastes is always the first

step.

Here are all of them in detail:

Note: Jean Cunningham and others use another acronym, “DOWNTIME”, to help
remember the types of Lean waste.
Ivan Carillo

1. Transportation
Unnecessary movement of products, equipment, and
materials within a process.

It adds unnecessary time to the flow,

while increasing the risk of

-being lost
-being placed in the wrong location

Transportation waste leads to various negative

consequences, including:

-Lost time and labour

-Increased costs
-Product damage and loss
-Delivery delays
Ivan Carillo

TRANSPORTATION - EXAMPLE

Let's say you work in a restaurant and want to make

the process of making burgers smoother.

You can keep main ingredients in one place.

Then, the cooks don't have to walk all over the kitchen
to get what they need.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Identify value streams

+Optimize transport routes
+Minimize material transportation
+Adjust the current layout and flow
+Reduce moves from one area to others
Ivan Carillo

2. inventory
Excess products and materials not being processed.

It’s a pure cost; money just sitting around in the form of

-Raw Materials (0% Complete),

-WIP (Partially Completed)
-Finished Goods (100% Complete).

Inventory waste leads to various negative

consequences, including:

-Ties up capital
-Occupies space
-Increased lead times
-Risk of obsolescence or damage
-Reduced flexibility
Ivan Carillo

INVENTORY - EXAMPLE

Picking up from the previous example...

If you have too much, you're wasting money

on food that will eventually go to waste.

If you have too little, you risk running out

of food as well as disappointing your customers.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Define necessary inventory levels

+Emphasize just-in-time delivery
+Implement inventory controls
+Implement a pull system
+Limit work-in-progress
+Reduce batch sizes
Ivan Carillo

3. MOTION
Unnecessary movement by people (e.g. walking).

Motion is endemic in almost every business process.

Just sit somewhere and watch people walking around.

Motion is different from Transportation.

Motion relates to the people, whereas transportation

looks at the goods being transported.

This waste has several negative consequences:

-Increased wear and tear

-Additional costs for maintenance
-Risk of accidents due to fatigue
-Reduced productivity
-More quality errors
Ivan Carillo

MOTION - EXAMPLE

Picking up from the restaurant example...

Do your cooks have to get up multiple times to go to

the fridges?

One way to reduce motion is to design the kitchen so

that they don't waste time walking back and forth.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Standardize processes
+Reduce manual handling
+Minimize travel distances
+Reorganize the workspaces
+Train for efficient movements
+Invest in ergonomic equipment
Ivan Carillo

4. waiting
Wasted time waiting for the next step in a process.

Time that the product is sitting there – not being

transported or processed.

Or the time that people are simply waiting for the

product to arrive.

If motion is endemic then waiting is a virus.

It destroys flow and value.

Waiting has several negative consequences:

-Increased costs
-Reduced productivity
-Delays
Ivan Carillo

WAITING - EXAMPLE

Waiting for food to cook, for customers to order, or

for supplies to be delivered.

It happens because two independent processes are not

synchronised.

Find out where “waiting is hiding” and then begin to look

at ways you can synchronise the processes.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Monitor & reduce waiting times

+Unlock process bottlenecks
+Enhance work scheduling
+Use visual management
+Set clear task priorities
+Streamline workflows
Ivan Carillo

5. overproduction
Making more than is necessary or needed by the
customer or the next step in the process

Overproduction is the King of Waste.

It has several negative consequences:

-Ties up capital
-Increased storage
-Obsolescence
-Increased movement costs
-Reduced flexibility

Many other wastes are created when you produce more

than the market demands.

Overproduction becomes more serious as customer

requirements continually change faster and faster.
Ivan Carillo

OVERPRODUCTION - EXAMPLE

During peak hours, the kitchen staff may make more

burgers than are needed to meet customer demand.

They may make 15 burgers every 10 minutes,

even if the customer demand is 10.

Monitor demand for your most popular burgers

and then make decisions accordingly.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Avoid overstocking
+Streamline processes
+Implement pull systems
+Monitor inventory levels
+Use Just-in-Time methods
+Optimize production schedules
Ivan Carillo

6. overprocessing
Doing more to the product than is necessary. Doing more
than the customer is paying for.

This can refer to

-doing more work

-adding more components
-having more steps than required

The negative effects of overprocessing waste include:

-Increased costs for labour, materials, and equipment

-Reduced productivity and efficiency
-Potential damage to customer relationships
-Reduced flexibility to adapt to changes

Overprocessing is as much an issue among internal

customers as it is with external customers.
Ivan Carillo

OVERPROCESSING - EXAMPLE

When making burgers, you don't need to grind

the beef yourself.

You can buy pre-ground beef to save time and money.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Implement standard operating procedures

+Eliminate non-value-added activities
+Tailor processes to requirements
+Remove redundant steps
Ivan Carillo

7. DEFECTS
Imperfect production that requires re-work, or doing
work again.

Defects are ‘any step within a process which is not done

correctly and requires some form of re-work or to be
done again’.

It’s the waste everyone can more easily identify with.

And without doubt, defects cost every business a huge

effort to fix.

The rule of thumb is the 1:10:100 rule which says that

an error spotted immediately will take x$ to fix.

If it’s missed and caught at the next step in the process

it will be x10.

Even later in the process, it will be x100.

Ivan Carillo

DEFECTS - EXAMPLE

If you overcook a burger, you have to throw it away.

Dirty equipment can harbour disease-causing pathogens

and lead to cross-contamination.

Train your kitchen staff properly and give them clear

instructions.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Implement quality control measures

+Use mistake-proofing procedures
+Identify & address root causes
+Keep on monitoring quality
+Train for error prevention
+Promote standardization
Ivan Carillo

8. SKILLS
Not using people’s talents, skills and knowledge at their
full.

It’s often associated with poor management practices

(e.g. assigning employees the wrong tasks)

Every business has a huge amount of untapped talent

that can make a difference in long-term survival.

Non-utilized talent can also result from poor

communication and a lack of employee engagement.

You may have people stuck in roles which do not match

their strengths.

Check carefully.
Ivan Carillo

SKILLS - EXAMPLE

Going back to the restaurant...

A highly skilled chef may be assigned to work as a line

cook, not utilizing their expertise and creativity.

Servers may be not trained to handle special requests or

provide exceptional customer service.

HOW TO GET RID OF IT?

+Encourage cross-training
+Support skill development
+Match tasks to employee skills
+Recognize and reward expertise
+Foster a culture of continuous learning
+Empower employees to suggest changes
Ivan Carillo

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