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1.0 Why
2.0 What
WasteDefined
References/Sources
Learning to See Waste
“THEMOSTDANGEROUSKIND
OFWASTEISTHEWASTEWE
DONOTRECOGNIZE.”| Shigeo Shingo |
A collaborative presentation from over a dozen experienced Lean IPD practitioners.
© 2015 Lean Construction Institute
LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 2
1.0 Why
Wastecanbedefinedasanytaskthatisnotvalueadded.
Valueadded tasksare tasks thatmeet the following threecriteria:
• Theendcustomercaresaboutit.• The task changes the shape or form of a product or
service.• Youcandoitrightthefirsttime.
Studieshaveshownthatapproximately70%oftheactivitiesperformedinthedesignandconstructionindustryarenon-valueaddorwaste.Ifwecanlearntoseewaste,wehavetheabilitytodramaticallyaffectthisratio.
Wasteisanassessmentaboutanythingthatinterfereswithourcapacitytotakecareofwhatwewanttotakecareof.Fixwhatbothersyou!
SevenmajorwasteswereoriginallydefinedbyTaiichiOhnotodescribewasteinmassproduction.Theseoriginatefromthemanufacturingworldbutcanbeappliedtoanyprocess.Inthelate90saneighthformofwastebegantobeformallyrecognized.
There are several acronyms to remember what thesewastesare.OneofthemorecommononesisTIMWOOD,orTIMWOOD(S).AnotherAcronymisDOWNTIME.Theacro-nymsarenotimportant,thatisjustawaytoeasilyremem-berthecategories.Whatisimportantislearningtorecog-nizewasteinprocesses.Thesetermswillopenyoureyestowasteinanyprocess.
Transportation
Unnecessarymovementbypeople,equipment,ormaterialfrom process to process. This can include administrativeworkaswellasphysicalactivities.
In Design/ Construction this could include moving equip-ment ormaterialsonaproject site. It couldalso includecomplicated electronic file transfers of information duringdesignandconstruction.
2.0 WhatJapaneseLesson
Muda:anyactivitythatiswasteordoesnotaddvalue
Mura:Unevenessinoperations
Muri:Overburdeningofpeopleorequipment
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LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 3
Inventory
Productquantitiesthatgobeyondsupportingthe immedi-ateneed.Inventorymayincluderawmaterials,work-inprog-ress,orfinishedgoods.
Decisionscanalsobecomeawasteofinventory.Ifweforceorendusers,owners,andteammemberstomakedecisionsbeforethelastresponsiblemoment,wearecreatinginven-tory.Astechnologychanges,materialselectionsarediscon-tinued,etc., wearequitepossiblycreatingreworkforthewholeteamasaresult.
Motion
Unnecessarymovement of people or equipmentwithin aprocess.
A traditionalRFI isagoodexampleof this. ARequest forInformationisquitesimplythat,onecustomeronaprojectaskingforclarificationfromanotherwithasingleprocessforgettingthatinformation.Becauseofprotocoloftenassoci-atedwiththeRFI,ithastogothroughmanystepstogettothecustomerthatneedstoanswerthequestion.Thesimplerequestofananswerhasunnecessarymotiontosolveit.
Waiting
Timewhenwork-in-process iswaiting for thenext step inproduction.
Waitingcannotalwaysbeavoided,butwecanplanforwait-ing. The teamneeds anunderstandingof decisiontimes,inspectiontimes,city/statereviewtimesandcanplanvalueaddedtasksduringthewaittimes.
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LEARNINGTOSEEWASTE | 4
Over Processing
Moreprocessingthan isneededtoproducewhatthecus-tomerrequires.Perhapsthehardesttodetectandeliminate.
Weneedtoconstantlyaskthequestionsaboutvaluetotheendcustomer tounderstand this. Areweprovidingmorethanwhatourcustomerneeds?Areweoverdetailing,overdesigning, or over thinking our work based on what theend customer wants and what other team members areproviding?
Over Production
Makingsomethingbeforeitistrulyneeded.Thisisparticu-larlyseriusformofwastebecauseitleadstootherformsofwaste.
Duringprojectsitmightseemadvantageoustoworkaheadof thegroup. Ifyouhave thestaffandthetime,whynotpushforward? Oftentimesthis isamistakeandmaycostyou more time. Imagine if you had a curtain wall tradecontractordetail theirportionofworkbefore theexteriordesignwasapproved.Theriskofreworkusuallyisnotworthitintheend.
Defects
Productionthatisscraporrequiresrework.
Errors andOmissions, Constructionerrors, all fall into thiscategory.Wewillnoteliminateallerrors,butwecancoor-dinate to reduce them and communicate tominimize theimpactsofanythatoccur.
Skills(ifusingTIMWOODSacronym)Non-utilized Resources (IfusingDOWNTIMEacronym)
Neglectingtoseekinputfromallsourcesandutilizetalentandresourcesavailable.
This can be common on traditional projects because theexpertsatasubjectareusuallynot inthemeetingswhereproblemsarediscussed. Changethisbydiscussingprojectissuesattheirsourceandinvolveallreleventstakeholders.
Wasteisdisrespectfultopeople.Allofthewastesdescribedhereinterferewiththeindividual’sworkenvironment.Wasteconsumesresourcesandworkers’skills.Itistheenemyofgoodconstruction.
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