Some ‘real life’ examples of how managements’ can get use to ‘waste’
In the article ‘Positioning of your Company / Institution in the South African Environment,’ the writer listed the seven most costly kinds of wastes, as identified in the Lean Six Sigma methodology. In this article, the writer thought it necessary to list some real examples, to indicate how easily managements can allow costly kinds of wastes to become the order of the day (the writer will not bore you with details about costs involved!).
Major Conglomerate
A consultant was paid his consulting rate per hour, for an hour-and-a-half each month, for two years, just to renew his car parking ticket at the company’s open car parking area!
Manufacturing Company
This is a manufacturing company, which was regularly awarded major orders from renowned wine producers. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, the owner continued to rent a double story workshop, with the following consequences:
· Their working week was reduced from 40.75 to 37.2 hours, due to time spent on the staircase (some product lines required going up the stairs three times per day!). Furthermore, due to a lack of firm management, the rest of the lost time was made up of late arrivals, and taking longer than prescribed tea/coffee breaks.
· Additional excessive walking due to the storeroom being on the first floor!
Furthermore,
· Although there were many costly ‘reworks’ due to clients not being required to sign off specifications, this was not rectified.
· No standard times existed for certain product ranges, so workers worked at their own pace; productivity improvements / time savings were thus never really looked at.
· Proper job cards were not made out and, secondly, job cards did not follow products from one working station to the next, with time spent at each working station, not being recorded.
Note:
· This is not meant to be an all exhaustive list, but merely to show how ‘small’ kinds of wastes can ‘creep’ into an organisation.
· Similar kinds of wastes occur in administrative and other business processes too!
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