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Waiting is one of the seven wastes first introduced by Taiichi Ohno, and still commonly used in modern Lean. Wait time is particularly bad because it consumes a non-renewable resource, and an important one at that: Time. Waiting occurs for a variety of reasons. People often wait for a machine Read more…
Walk time is an important factor in continuous improvement. Its main impact is on the seven wastes and on Standard Work. Obviously, the problem is that walking takes time that could be better spent working on a process. Walking distance adds up in a surprising hurry. For example, if a Read more…
Warehouses are organized storage locations. They can store both finished goods or raw materials and components. While some warehousing can be unavoidable, in general, these types of storage facilities go against most Lean principles. Raw materials and components should be ordered just-in-time and stored at the point of use. If Read more…
Transportation waste is the unnecessary movement of parts, double handling of materials, or shuffling of inventory to get access to the right components. Transportation waste is one of the seven wastes that Taiichi Ohno identified as barriers to flow. It is obvious why moving parts further than necessary is wasteful. Read more…
The waste recording form is a simple tool for documenting waste during a process walk. The observer focuses on identifying the wasteful activities a person is performing and records them on the form. The form will usually contain a place to categorize the waste. Waste reduction is a large part Read more…
A water spider or ”mizusumashi” in Japanese (see our listing of Japanese Lean terms), is a person who has a prescribed set of tasks to keep materials in stock at the point of use in production areas. NOTE: The water spider is alternately called a water strider. This differs from Read more…
There’s an old expression about ‘getting into the weeds.’ Most people think it comes from golfers getting off the fairway into the thick stuff on the side, or from fishermen getting their lines tangled up in underwater growth. Regardless of the origin, in meetings in a work environment, it means Read more…
John Francis (Jack) Welch (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was a long-tenured CEO during the heyday of General Electric (GE) from 1981-2001. While in charge of the company, shares rose a massive amount, around 4,000%. His legacy is both revered and hated by different people. He changed the Read more…
Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) is most widely known for his invention of the cotton gin. What is more applicable to Lean, though, is his focus on quality, specifically interchangeable parts. The legend goes that he was awarded a contract to make muskets for the fledgling Read more…
“WIFM” is a near-acronym for “What’s in it for me?” People tend to be rather logical, cause-and-effect types of creatures. They act when there is a reason to act. The basic premise of this acronym is that when that result of an action is in the best interest of a Read more…
James Womack is one of the leading proponents of Lean in the US. He co-authored The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking, two of the most widely read books on the topic of continuous improvement. He also founded the Lean Enterprise Institute and remains (as of 2020) a Read more…
A work cell is an area in a Lean company organized around the production of a specific product or product group. A work cell should be designed to promote flow and reduce waste. One of the biggest benefits that a work cell offers is proximity. When downstream processes are located Read more…
Work instructions are the specific details on how to do a job. They go hand-in-hand with Standard Work. Standard Work lays out the big picture sequence of the work; work instructions spell out the step-by-step methods used to do a job. Work instructions are characterized by: Pictures of how work Read more…
Lean afflictions abound in the continuous improvement workplace. One such ailment is Work Pace Disorder. With this disease, people cannot keep a consistent pace to their work. Typically, their pace depends upon the size of the pile in front of them, but it can also be impacted by other factors. Read more…
The work sequence is, not surprisingly, the order in which tasks are completed. Work sequence is also commonly referred to as the sequence of operations. Many tasks follow a logical order. Consider the assembly of a go kart. It makes sense that the tires are installed onto the wheels before Read more…
One of the basic goals of lean is to create flow. The rationale is that the more that material sits in one place, the more waste it creates. In most cases, this means a single piece of work moving through a connected process. This is where the term “one-piece flow” Read more…
Work-in-process (sometimes written as work-in-process and sometimes called work in progress) is a product or service that is partially completed. These goods have had something done to them, so are no longer considered raw materials or component parts. Lean attempts to minimize the amount of work in process to keep Read more…
Standard Work is one of the core tools for Lean. It is most appropriate for use in repetitive, shop floor work areas, but can be modified to be used effectively in less structured work flows as well as in the office. Standard work has three main components. A prescribed sequence Read more…
A workaround is an unofficial or temporary fix for a problem. In effect, it is an admission that the issue cannot be immediately resolved, and a patchwork fix is put in place. Workarounds are not intended to be permanent fixes but have a tendency to be left in place longer Read more…
“Workgroup” is a generic term used to describe an organization within a company that reports to a single individual. A workgroup may be a small team reporting to a lead, or a much larger group reporting to a department manager. In many traditional companies, workers are organized by function. In Read more…
One of the key elements of any process is the workstation. Simply put, a workstation is the area that contains the work surfaces, fixtures, tools, and materials needed to perform a job. Classic thinking promotes the use of standard workstations. These off-the-shelf setups can be interchangeable, and often can be Read more…
Workstations are exactly what they sound like. They are the locations where work is completed. In a non-Lean environment, workstations tend to be assigned to individuals, lack standardization, and often are very general in design. For example, a company may have a standard 6-foot-long workbench with a shelf above it Read more…